The morning started off extremely well with the team arriving exactly an hour before the start of play, allowing us to have a great team warm-up, catching practice as well as throw downs. You could sense the nervous excitement in every one of the players.

The pitch and ground was the usual pristine Heidelberg quality that we have all come to expect. Lots of runs were expected.

Off to the toss we went, tails was the call by Mong, heads it landed on and in we went to bat. I could sense some nervousness on Heidelberg's side by this decision as they are a win the toss and bat kind of team.

Sheri and Raj got our championship battle underway; however Raj was soon removed, edging out to gully. In stepped the ever improving Faizi who joined his perfect batting partner, Sheri at the other end. Off they went as we’ve come to expect from the two of them putting on another 100 run partnership before Faizi was caught at long on for a well-played 53.

Crescents new recruit Ebi stepped in to keep the lefty, righty combination at the crease going. Sheri fell soon after for a beautiful 48 taking us to 120-3 after 28 overs. Mong and Ebi were now at the crease and they proceeded cautiously but confidently taking us to 161-4 after 36 overs when Mong through his wicket away for the second time this weekend, this time getting caught on the square leg boundary.

Wickets then kept falling regularly around Ebi, however he kept his same concentration and determination throughout and was eventually dismissed in the 50th over for a beautiful well balanced innings of a greater than run a ball 83. The only other telling contribution was a late flurry from Imti which included two huge sixes.

Crescents finished on a competitive 243.

After the new braai-master Isi make us an awesome lunch, we set out onto the field knowing that there were 140 club members cheering us on as well as a whole community.

Ikes and Imti had the new ball in hand with the destructive opening pair of ‘Nico’ and Johan opening the batting for Heidelberg. Heidelberg were off to a flyer moving onto 85-1 after 13 overs. The breakthrough was finally achieved thanks to a superb spell of bowling from Shuaib.

The daunting Nico was still at the crease though. Heidelberg’s momentum kept on going, getting to 150-1 after 19 overs (Nico was dropped with the score on 90 odd by Wajid who split his webbing and had to rush to hospital to get 8 stiches in his hand and the number 3 batsman was dropped at slip by Mong early in his innings too).

Thankfully for us our most ardent supporter Isi came all the way to Heidelberg to watch us play and he brought his whites with ‘just in case’. So Isi came on to field for the injured Wajid. 94 to win in 31 overs with 9 wickets in hand. Captain Mong decided to bring himself on with Shuaib bowling well at the other end. Line and length with a bit of swing did the trick. Mong got Heidelberg’s number 3 out caught and bowled, grazing his right hand’s skin on the pitch in the process. 153-2 after 20 overs.

Finally the biggest moment of the game came when Mong got Nico out through a leading edge to point where Kotwal took a crucial catch, Heidelberg 169-3 after 24 overs. I had a quick glance at the Heidelberg boys sitting on the side-lines and I could sense a lot of nervous energy. We always knew that removing their top 3 was the key to us winning this match. Regular wickets than fell (178-4, 179 – 5, 198-6, 215-7, 215-8, 222-9). Mong finished his 10 over spell, taking 6 for 26 in a match changing spell of bowling. 22 to win, 1 wicket in hand. Heidelberg’s 10th wicket weren’t going to give up without a fight.

They required 7 to win in 5 overs when Ebi ran into bowl. A firmly driven aerial drive went to Mino standing at mid-on, we all looked on nervously, all our hearts stopped in sync, but Mino showed complete calm and plucked the ball out of the air.

Crescents win by 7 runs, stealing the limited overs title out of Heidelberg’s clenched fists.

Crescents are the Limited Overs champions!!!

A big thank you to all of the players who have fought tooth and nail in every game in the first half of the season, and an even bigger thank you to the rest of the club (especially uncle Sol) who have given us the outmost support in every game we’ve played.
We are all looking forward to working even harder and competing with even more intensity when we embark on our time cricket journey in January.

Crescents Cricket Club

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