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Magic had been another strong team from the previous ECS, reaching the semi-finals. Despite this, we were hopeful of casting a spell over them. Game 1 Shriram Bhosale won his third toss in a row, but unlike against Pakicare, elected to bat. Imran Fareed and Ash Reynolds opened up and got us off to a flying start, with our best powerplay score in the ECS (55/0 off 3). Their 66-run partnership ended on the last ball of the fourth over as Imran was bowled for a brilliantly made 39 off just 14 balls. This only caused Ash to up the ante and the next over went for 21, the second over to go “magical” (more than 20 runs). Tom Coulthard found it more difficult to get going and didn’t last long but Ash found a more in-form partner in skipper Shri. Ash passed his 50 off just 17 balls, but was out just a couple of balls later. Captain (20 off 11) was joined by vice-captain James Bentley (18* off 12) at the crease, and the two saw us to our highest ECS score of 147/4. Having missed the last ball, Shriram was run out by the keeper semi-attempting a suicidal run. With such records behind us, there was confidence going out into the field. Despite an expensive first over, Vishesh Gajjar got the important wicket of their big-hitting captain Waqas off the fifth ball. Imran and Zeeshan Dildar bowled the next two overs, with both conceding a respectable 13 runs. After James’ traditional fourth over, Imran came back and tightened the screw. His over went for just five and ended with the second wicket of the innings. When Zeeshan in the next over also conceded just five runs, whilst also picking up a wicket, we were suddenly well on top and looking the favourites. Magic ended the 6th over just reaching the halfway point in terms of runs required. Shriram brought himself into the attack next over, and pulled it back despite going for 6 first ball. The next two overs however, were much more costly and ended up costing us the game as Magic plundered an even 50 off them. By the time James came on to bowl the final over, only 11 were needed and they were knocked off in four balls. We were inevitably disappointed to have thrown away a strong winning position, but could at least claim some solace in having claimed a bonus point against one of the best-performing teams of the previous tournament. Game 2 With just a 15 minute break in between games, we couldn’t sit licking out wounds for long. Shriram had already won the toss in the innings break, and had again chosen to bat first. Imran and Ash opened up again, with Imran again smoking a quickfire 30 (33 off 10) as we started strong hitting 29 off the first over! Another 16 followed in the second over, although Ash was dismissed of its last ball. From then on, the innings was very up and down. The third over went for just two, and saw the dismissals of Imran and Tom. Hiro Lalwani was run out in the next as we scored just seven. Amazingly then, having lost a lot of momentum, we scored a mammoth 35 in the 5th with four sixes (and a couple of extras to help). Our number three, Umer Razi, was struggling to find someone to stick with him and his partners kept coming and going. Only Zeeshan got to double figures (10 off 10) off batters 4-11 but thankfully Umer’s brilliant 67 off 23 got us up to 140 all out, with Zeeshan last man out run out off the last ball. Imran, Zeeshan and Vishesh were again trusted with the powerplay overs but Magic got off to a good start, reaching 52/1 in the three overs, Vishesh getting the opening wicket off the final ball of the third over. At the end of the next over, there was another wicket as both batters ended up at the same end, allowing Ash to calmly whip the bails off from Zeeshan’s throw. There were a couple of very tidy overs from Zeeshan and James, and the game was following a very similar trajectory to the first one. The eighth over went for 23 and Magic were suddenly back in with a sniff. Tom was trusted with the ninth over, having not bowled all tournament and did well to come back from going for six first ball. It meant that Magic needed a not impossible 18 runs off the final over. Captain Shri stepped up to the plate, having been smashed around the park in the morning. A wicket off the second (legal) ball eased the nerves, although the next ball disappearing over the rope definitely didn’t! 11 off three needed. The new batter couldn’t replicate his first ball shot and two dots followed. With 11 still needed off the final ball, all Shri had to do was keep his foot behind the line, and the ball within them. That he did, and the ball disappearing through the covers did not matter one jott. We broke a 14 (fourteen!) match losing streak and there was relief to be seen all around. It also meant Shri had his first win as full-time captain. Four points claimed from the day, in two really hard-fought games against a strong opposition. We face Sohal Hospitalet on Saturday, who are still yet to break their own duck in this tournament. Here’s to more success! Sam Phillipps  WINNERS!
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Our ECS season started with a nice, easy start: two back-to-back games against reigning Spanish T10 champions Pakicare. Perfect for a team with such a great T10 record last year! Game 1 New club captain Shriram Bhosale at least continued our best ECS skill, winning the toss. Much to the commentators’ bemusement, Shri elected to bowl. Our most successful bowler from last year’s tournament, Vishesh Gajjar, was thrown the ball and the responsibility of two powerplay overs. His two relatively tidy overs were sandwiched by Shriram, who picked up the first wicket of the tournament. James Bentley got his almost traditional fourth over, and got a wicket first ball (that of Spanish international Mohammad Ihsan, no less), before receiving a bit of punishment. This left Pakicare on 55/2 off four. Imran Fareed came on next, with both of his overs only going for single figures. Anton relieved the pressure a bit but claimed a wicket with his last ball, and Shriram got another next over. Zeeshan restricted the final over to just 10 and Pakicare finished on just 117/5, way below the previous tournament average and indeed their own expectations. We sensed an upset! Anton Kritzinger and returning club legend Ash Reynolds opened the batting, with Anton getting us off to a brilliant start in the first two overs. Sadly the third over went for just one run, as another Spanish international Muhammad Atif conceded just a wide, before picking up the wickets of Ash (LBW), Imran and Suraj Jha (both bowled) in consecutive balls. Four of the next five overs went for a pitiful two or three runs, with only the sixth over offering us an up-with-the-rate 12 runs. With any chance of an unexpected victory long gone, we did at least manage to claw a bonus point (new to this tournament) as Shriram (38*), with some help from Umer Razi, hit 40 off the last two overs (including two sixes off the final two balls from the skipper), to just get us over the secondary target of 82. We finished on 86/8, disappointed to have thrown away a great chance but celebrating getting that all-important bonus point to get us on the board! Game 2 There was sadly less to write home about in the second game. Shriram did again win the toss and tried the same tactic of sticking them in to bat. Having fallen cheaply in the first game, Ihsan was not in the mood to miss out again. While he didn’t reach the dizzying heights he did against us last year, his 95 off 38 was the mainstay of the innings. Only Kieran O’Donnell could stop him off the penultimate ball of the innings as he chased three figures. Thankfully, none of the other batters came off to that extent which did at least keep the score down to a respectable, and indeed potentially chasable 150/7. James Bentley was through the middle overs, picking up 3/19 from his two overs, and an absolute worldie of a catch that was chosen as the “play of the day”. Apart from a run-a-ball 15 from Ali Warriach, brought into the team for the second game, none of the other top order fired. James came in at 7, a promotion from the first game, and stamped his authority on the BICC player of the match with a great knock of 37 off 17 as the only batter to really offer proper resistance. This time we fell well short of the bonus point, ending on a disappointing 83/8. Whilst the bonus point system didn’t exist last time, we wouldn’t have claimed one against Pakicare last time out. Between that and some individual performances there were certainly some positives to take from our performances against the arguable tournament favourites. We move on to our two games against Magic on Wednesday. Sam Phillipps |
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