San Diego 3 v/s British & Dominion Club - August 7, 2005

San Diego 3(SD3) were given the pleasure of hosting the British and Dominion(B&D) Club boys on Sunday, August 7, 2005.

SD3 being the hosts had the most exciting task of preparing the pitch on a gloomy Sunday moring. The sun, taking a cue from the SD3 players, did not come out on time. SD3 played the "hosts" to perfection when some players arrived after the B&D team. The surface called the "pitch" was a batting beauty - an uneven, parched spot of land hidden by a mat. Life was made tougher for the bowlers with the pitch providing quite a bit of uneven bounce around the good length spot.

After an interesting session of decorating the field, in which only a select few participated, SD3 topped it off by losing the toss. The players were not disappointed by this and warmed up by dropping a catch in the slips of Vishal's bowling. The hapless Vishal was finally rewarded when Ajay took a beauty at second slip. Hari bowled manfully at the other end without much luck. The strength of the SD3 attack was not lost on the B&D batsmen, and they were playing intelligently by taking singles and eschewing any risks. Shiva and Arup replaced them and Arup once again delivered a bullet - stumps uprooted and bails flying is a common sight for SD3 when Arups's bowling.

Stephen Speak, the most prolific batsman in the league, arrived with 336 runs under his belt and a sparkling average of 56. He did not know what fate had in store for him. Before he could settle, Andy claimed one of the cruelest dismissals by running him out on the second run when he was caught napping outside the crease. This brilliant piece of cricket was a big blow to the B&D side and they took a few oves to recover.

Pritish caught a very debatable return catch of his own bowling. Nobody but the man who matters most, the umpire, was sure about the dismissal. Derek Polley, the highest scorer, fell of Manish's bowling to a smart backward running catch from Kushal but not before he had added a fifty to his runs tally.

The gentle Aussie giant Andrew arrived and found the ground too small for his liking. He cleared a few over the fence, over the Warren apartments. One unfortunate over had three sixes and a boundary. He was a big cause of concern for the SD3 skipper, who chopped and changed his fielders and bowlers to get his wicket. His knock brought momentum to the B&D innings but not before SD3 took the liberty of dropping two of his catches. Hari, the skipper, brought himself on and took the vital wicket when Arup took a blinder on the offside boundary.

Arup, Shiva and Hari then wrapped up the innings for a total of 173 runs which was a very competitive target under the conditions. Nothing much was spoken during the luncheon interval though everyone realised that only a mature batting performance would lead to victory. The strategy was very simple - Keep wickets in hand till the bowl gets old and then milk the bowling towards the end. Easier said than done on a difficult batting wicket.

Manish and Shiva opened the innings facing two tall and nasty B&D bowlers who were extracting a lot of bounce from the pitch. Shiva got out fending a catch to the short cover in the 4'th over. The almost unplayable delivery rose sharply from a good length.

Rafi arrived at the crease and batted courageously. Both Rafi and Manish copped quite a few blows on the body. The B&D captain made the mistake of bowling out his top 2 bowlers before the break in search of the 2'nd wicket. Rafi got out on the last ball before the break getting bowled by playing the wrong line.

Vishal came in next and a big misunderstanding led to Manish's run out. Ajay followed soon after caught behind of a spinner. Vishal put the disappointments behind him and played a brisk run-a-ball partnership with Arup. Arup departed at the score of 91 bringing Andy on to the crease.

Andy's move to the middle order has been a revelation. Under the guidance of Vishal, both of them played a very sensible and explosive unbeaten partnership of 85 runs. The run chase looked like a canter from the outside but it was a good reward for the San Diego batsman who did all the hard yards. Vishal, as is the norm these days, top-scored with 58 not out which had a few magnificent sixes. Andy scored a busy 35 runs with some lusty hits to the fence.

The SD3 skipper was a proud and happy man to witness a clinical batting performance. Hope the winning trend continues for the rest of the season.

Brief Summary
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Bowling Analysis

Vishal 8-2-22-1
Hari 8-2-37-2
Arup 6-1-33-2
Shiva 7.2-1-25-2
Manish 2-0-16-1
Saad 2-0-19-0
Pritesh 4-0-18-1

Batting Analysis

Manish 18
Shiva 2
Rafi 6
Ajay 2
Arup 12
Vishal n.o. 58
Andy n.o 35

FOW: 1/9 (4th over), 2/42 (15th over), 3/53 (18th over), 4/63 (21st over), 5/91 (25th over), Andy and Vishal had a 85 runs unbeaten partnership for the 6th wicket.