Main Umpire: Dave Kumar Leg Umpire: Batting team
Reports: Greenville won the toss and elected to bat on a humid, overcast
day. This perhaps turned out to be a mistake as they were subjected to very
difficult batting conditions. The pitch at Shiloh had more life than has been
seen in years, perhaps due to being rolled harder and being dryer than usual. In
addition, all the bowlers were able to get the ball moving in the heavy air.
The innings started well for the Hurricanes as they took 14 runs off the first
over. However, the bowlers soon settled in to their rhythm and Panda made the
big move of the game getting the always dangerous Kulwant caught in the gulley,
bowling Kam, and bowling Snehal. This set the Hurricanes back and they never
seemed to recover. The ANZACs fielded outstandingly holding six great catches
during the innings as wickets fell at regular intervals. In the end Sunil was
able to wrap up the tail with four wickets for a very modest total of 69.
The ANZACs took the field feeling comfortable in their run chase, but were made
to work with some tight bowling by the Hurricanes. With a low run rate required
the ANZACs didn't take too many unnecessary risks. Greenville got an early
breakthrough removing both openers, and then picked up another two wickets with
the score at 32. However, Simon and Shaluka settled in to a slow steady climb to
the total and only opened their wrists with the target in sight to take the
ANZACs home with ten overs and six wickets to spare. Pick of the Hurricanes
bowlers was the captain Gaurang with a wicket in four tight overs.
Thanks to Dave Kumar for an outstanding day umpiring.
Special mention needs to be made of the league's youngest player, Greenville's
Sunil, who at age 12 made his first league run immediately before giving his
first league catch.