ECS Day One - Magic, Spartans & Pakicare

Having been originally carded to open the tournament, we eventually got our campaign going on the fifth day. It was an early 8:45 start with games to come against Magic CC, Spartans Hospitalet CC and Pakicare CC. 

Magic CC - scorecard
Captain Umer Razi, after arriving to the ground in near pitch blackness, won the toss and decided to avoid fielding in the cold. Umer opened the batting with Maxi Hoeck, who was out quickly. Keeper Dev Mahadevan came in next and would finish on a well-made 29* from 22 balls. Umer was caught having made 23 off 15 which brought Imran Fareed to the crease. He smashed 5 sixes on the way to a 19-ball 53 before eventually being dismissed in the final over. We posted an underpar 112/3 from our 10 overs.

Magic had started the tournament well so we knew we’d have to bowl well. Their openers got them off to a great start, helped by a few comical dropped catches, before Anton “Johnny Vegetables” took a good catch off the bowling of Imran. In the very next over, Mr Vegetables would get a wicket of his own and get us excited that we might just defend it. Sadly, despite a third wicket near the end for Umer, we just didn’t have enough runs on the board and Magic finished the chase with eight balls to spare. 

Spartans Hospitalet CC - scorecard
After a two hour break, we were back to face Spartans Hospitalet. Having lost the toss, we were asked to bowl first. Spartans were yet to win a game so we were hopeful of getting our first victory! Maxi and Burhan Ejaz, unused in the first game, opened the bowling and got us off to a great start by really keeping the runs down and picking up a wicket a piece in their first overs. Vishesh Gajjar bowled the third and another wicket fell to a great run out by the skipper. James Bentley bowled the fourth, picking up a wicket with his first ball and we were well on top. An expensive over from Shriram Bhosale followed, before Maxi and Burhan returned to pick up another wicket each and two very cheap overs. Sadly the final two overs from Vishesh and Will Camfield were slightly less cheap and they finished on 115/5.

It was still a below-par score that we were confident of chasing. Umer opened with Tom Coulthard in something of a surprise - his previous experience opening the batting on a Youtube stream ended with him dismissed before the stream even started! A slow first over built the pressure and Umer edged off in the second over. Our middle order and Tom performed well, with Tom (27), Shriram (12) and Anton (23) all hitting with a strike rate in excess of 225. With the game ours for the taking, the steady flow of wickets wasn’t helping and Jon Wong and Dev weren’t quite able to keep up with the rate and we finished on 97/6. A second disappointing loss in a game that should have been ours.

Pakicare CC - scorecard
Our final game of the day was against Pakicare, the European T10 champions in 2022 and the first team we had played against before. Whilst less optimistic here, we were hopeful of putting up a good show and giving them a tough game. Umer won the toss and chose to bowl.
It was a tough 45 minutes in the field, with every bowler bar one getting dispatched around the ground by Spanish international Muhammad Ihsan on his way to 120* off just 40 balls. Vishesh was the one bowler to really impress, and the only one to pick up a wicket in his 1.5 overs, that went for just 15 runs. Only a blow to the ankle off a straight drive could stop him! His 11 balls “restricted” Pakicare to “just” 182/2, with the other wicket a run out executed by Vishesh and keeper Dev. 
In this game Imran (27) was sent up the order to open with Tom and the two did well at the start, albeit considerably behind the 18 runs an over required! Umer came and went quickly and Shri was dismissed first ball for a “Golden Derek”. Jon and Tom saw out the remaining overs. Jon finished on 16* and Tom carried his bat for 32* as we ended on 91/3. 
Three defeats on our first day, but a great time was had by all! We’re back on Sunday to play exactly the same teams in exactly the same order in what some are calling Revenge Day!

Sam Phillipps