ANZACS CC 107 all out in 28.4 overs
CLCC 105 all out in 30.0 overs

Report by Ron Knight

CLCC won the toss and put the ANZACS in to bat, after a long delay caused by having only one set of stumps between the two teams.  I have been meaning to buy a set of stumps and stick them in the boot of my car just in case, but never got around to it.  I wish I had done so before Sunday.  Also I might remark that it's natural, if you are the traveling team, to assume that the home team will provide the stumps, but still it doesn't hurt to bring yours along just in case.  ANZACS had lent a set of stumps to another club and not gotten them back by game time.  Thanks to Vipul of RCC for taking the trouble to leave home with a set of RCC stumps for us to use in the match.

Anyway, we finally got the stumps pitched and started the match at 11:24.  Ashish bowled a 1-run opening over for CLCC and followed it up with a maiden in his next over.  Abhi allowed 8 runs in the second over, but followed it up with a maiden in the fourth.  So scoring began relatively slowly, with the appropriate caution at the beginning of the innings.  The first wicket fell for 24 runs in the 7th over, first change bowler Gopal managing to entice the batsman into giving up a catch. 

We agreed to take drinks after the 15th over, and in the 15th over ANZACS were looking well poised for more aggressive batting, with only one wicket down and the score at 55.  However, Mayur was brought on for the last over before drinks and claimed a wicket on his third ball, so we took drinks at 55 and completed the over after the interval.  After the drinks break ANZACS still looked poised for a productive slog, but they began losing wickets too steadily to lash out much.  Their highest-scoring over after the break was the 18th, with 8 runs, but that over also saw the loss of the third wicket to a fine stumping by Shashi off Parimal, who suffered the runs to lure the batsman out of his crease.

Kathan, who opened for ANZACS, looked poised to carry his bat, but finally was caught in an inattentive moment and delivered an easy catch in the 22nd over when the score was at 83.  Kathan ended up as high scorer for the ANZACS with 32.  ANZACS captain Simon took the leadership at the end of the innings to rally the troops with his bat, but ran out of partners and was not out for 11.  Satbir scored 18 and Hugh enjoyed a brief explosion, scoring 12 in 8 balls before getting out.  Chandu was the bowler most responsible for containing the ANZACS batsmen at the end, coming on in the 20th over and taking 5 wickets for 12 runs.  The ANZACS were finally all out on the 4th ball of the 29th over for 107 runs.

For once, the Shiloh pitch was not mushy, and one might have thought that 107 was a low target on the sunbaked clay.  But as those who have experienced this pitch recently know, the deformations in the pitch surface made while the pitch was soft are now permanently baked into the pitch even when it is hard.  So the batsmen could never make confident assumptions about what the ball was going to do.  Since both contending sides have capable and deep bowling lineups, it was a day when the bowlers generally had a little more mastery over the batsmen, and so the ANZACS felt that their strong bowling lineup would have a good chance of defending the target, even though it seemed low for Shiloh.

The first five overs started out even better for the ANZACS than the first five had begun for CLCC in the previous innings.  the biggest over was for four runs and at the end of five overs CLCC had only 6 runs. Still, openers Parimal and Shashi seemed to be settling in to lay the foundations for a productive opening wicket stand when Parimal was given out LBW to a ball that pitched between middle and leg and was headed for his leg stump.  CLCC batted on determinedly, but remained behind the scoring pace set by ANZACS through most of the innings.  After 10 overs, ANZACS had 44 and CLCC had 21.  After 20 overs, ANZACS had 74 and CLCC had 58.  Still, one had to bear in mind that the ANZACS had never really gotten going in a slog in the first innings, and if CLCC could get the scoreboard ticking in the second half of their innings they still had a chance.

CLCC never collapsed, but still they kept losing wickets just enough to disturb their momentum and keep them from breaking out.  AT the end of 25 overs they were at 81, with 27 runs needed to win off 5 overs.  While this was not a huge target, they had lost 6 wickets and were running out of recognized batsmen, and ANZACS after 25 overs had had 93 runs.  The momentum seemed to be going the way of the ANZACS team.

Suddenly disaster struck the ANZACS, as the CLCC batsmen scored 19 runs in the 26th over, bringing their total to 100.  This was the same as the ANZACS total after 16 overs, and brought the match pretty well even.  In fact, CLCC had somewhat the advantage, having lost only 6 wickets, while the ANZACS had lost 8 at that point in the previous innings.  Kathan had been brought in to bowl for the ANZACS in the 23rd over and had been very economical, and in the 27th over opener Parth was brought back to team with Kathan in an effort to take wickets or at least to keep the scoring down.  Parth and keeper Sudeep were unlucky to have me turn down an appeal for caught behind that was bat and pad on the leg side.  I heard the tick against the bat but through some mental lapse did not register it and gave the batsman not out.  On the next ball I gave the batsman out again, giving him the benefit of the doubt on what may have been a bump ball but also may have bounced off his boot from the bat. Because of the good discipline of the ANZACS team I was able to survive these two not-outs and continue the umpiring.

Thanks also to captain Shashi and the other members of the CLCC team who helped contain tensions among the CLCC ranks as more wides were called from the sidelines than from where I stood.  The match ended in good spirits and sportsmanship although of course CLCC were highly disappointed and left quickly for their long drive home.

After my two not-outs ANZACS finally claimed a wicket on the next ball, although it was not that of the striker.  The non-striker went just a bit too far investigating a quick single and was unable to get his bat down behind the crease before his stumps were broken, putting CLCC at 100 for 7 in the 27th over.  From this point Parth and Kathan strove mightily for wickets without much success, but they did have more success in containing the CLCC scoring.  One run was scored in the 27th over, bringing the total to 101.  Seven runs to win in 18 balls.  One more run in the 28th over.  Six runs to win in 12 balls.  Then in the 29th over disaster struck:  the batsmen disagreed on whether to attempt a quick single and the wicket was put down by the keeper with both batsmen at the other end of the pitch.  The ninth wicket went down to a catch in the same over, leaving CLCC at 103, four runs to win with 6 balls to score them in but only the last two batsmen to score them. Kathan allowed only two runs in the first balls of the over, and then the ANZACS fieldsmen backed up to prevent boundaries and twos.  The last ball was delivered with the CLCC score still on 105, and on it the striker was caught behind.  For good measure, just in case I blew the call again, Sudeep stumped him as well.  Final tally, CLCC 105 all out using all of their allotted 30 overs.

Top scorer for CLCC was Abhi with 28.  Kunal added 21 and Ashish 13.  Bowling for ANZACS Sunil was the wicket-taker, taking three wickets and giving up only 11 runs in his first five overs.  Unfortunately he ended at 3 for 21.  The ANZACS selected Kathan as their Man of the Match, the top scorer batting for 22 overs, and one of the game-saving bowlers containing CLCC in the final overs, ending with 1 wicket for 7 runs in 4 overs.

With this victory the ANZACS have clinched first place in the regular season and first seed for the playoffs.  I wouldn't be surprised if these two teams meet again this season.  It was a pleasure to umpire this match and have the best seat in the house for the exciting ending.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend off!

Ron Knight