A rare occurrence of opponents failing to raise a full XI led to us meeting the Calypso cricketers again in a double header. We were playing away but on familiar grounds of Northwick Park. English weather is a joke as it resulted in a wash out last week while mercury hitting the 30s and draining us out this week. Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, its cricket time.

Unfortunately after a string of 6 wins, I lost the most important one and they opted to bat. Both Hitesh and Kuni bowled good line and lengths. Vincent was not going to defend long and went for a wild swing against Kuni. The edge was gleefully gloved by Hambo and the umpire adjudged it out. But to everyone’s surprise, their skipped Rueben at the non-striker end thought otherwise and was retracting Vinnie from walking. This is the first time I have seen non-striker retracting a player. After a long discussion, Vinnie agreed to walk and Reuben agreed not to intervene with umpire’s decisions. This brought in Sheldon and together with Rueben, a partnership started forming. Good balls were defended and some were muscled by the Caribbean duo to the ropes.

First change Junior and Dharmesh continued from where Hitesh and Kuni left. Dharmesh bowled his four overs with genuine pace and tight line increasing the pressure while Junior kept mixing his deliveries. Eventually Sheldon was beaten for the lack of pace from Junior and was bowled giving us the much needed breakthrough. Ganesh playing his first game in England and for Priory was brought in to replace Dharmesh. A rusty start from Ganesh helped the new bat Zabi to settle in. Rueben on the other hand was exhibiting his experience by anchoring the inning and amassing runs by cutting and pulling bowlers. Ganesh soon found his rhythm but the lingering cobwebs allowed the opposition to punish us frequently. Few overs were left for drinks and Anish was brought in from the pavilion end. His first over was a mixed bag as few slow loopy good length deliveries troubled the batsmen, but his lack of control of line in the next 2 didn't help his economy. The youngest player of club showed promise and also lack of regular practice.

Since Zabi had a penchant for pulling, Kuni was placed at deep wicket and the batsman didn’t disappoint as Kuni took a brilliant high catch of Ganesh bowling. This brought Les, an agricultural heaver who shouldn’t have stayed longer than a few overs but he did and scored 25 till H fired one bowling him out. Sabs, a genuine all-rounder in the making bowled great line and lengths. A crucial catch and run out was missed in the last 15 overs. Hambo redeemed it by taking a full length diving catch to dismiss Oral of Sabs bowling. Gaurav replaced Ganesh and eventually gave us the much needed wicket of Reuben cutting it straight to Hitesh. Gaurav is stamping himself as a partnership breaker by taking 3 wickets in 4 overs. The tail was wrapped up and we were set to chase 200.

Averaging 180 in the previous games, 200 wasn’t a daunting task but it also required the top 5 to play sensibly and keep the asking rate in sight. Dharmesh and Harish opened against the accurate bowling of Oral and Vincent. After a cautious start, Hambo was done by an off cutter from Vincent. Nitin joined Dharmesh and from the very first ball, it was evident that he is a top craftsman who will pace the run like a seasoned marathoner. Together they were fending off the good deliveries and dispatching the bad ones to the boundaries. Dharmesh using his bottom hand to go over the inner ring while Nitin with an orthodox straight blade driving and pulling. Zabi was brought in to replace Oral and Raghu replaced Vinnie from the pavilion end. After bad luck comes good fortune. Not for Dharmesh as he chopped one from Zabi onto the stumps for a well-made 37.

We needed another 120 when I joined Nitin. My stay at the crease was shortened by Raghu’s Yorker trapping me leg before. My lack of application in this situation opened the floodgates for White Star. Sabs replaced me and didn’t read the script either. After a half chance being dropped by White Star, Sabs offered another off a full toss and was returning back to the pavilion. Nitin was begging for a batsman to offer him support as his willow didn’t stop keeping the asking rate in sight. His prayers were answered in the form of Ganesh. With his family watching his debut on English soil it was evident that the Southpaw is a confident lad. Nitin and Ganesh were cruising in top gear and soon Priory had 150 on-board. Seeing Nitin cutting well, Zabi changed his action to around the wicket and fired one to the top of off stump. To everyone’s surprise Nitin missed it giving away his prized wicket.

Reuben made the most apt bowling change and brought in Oral. Gaurav with his hit and miss performance this season needed to support Ganesh. This occasion was a miss and Oral went through his defence. Ganesh kept on scoring and showed glimpses of Suresh Raina with deft touches followed by a huge six over long off. With few nets behind him, Anish was next in and offered some resistance. By this time Reuben had brought in Vincent from the other end sniffing victory. With Oral having bowled his spell Reuben brought Dipak, a skiddy off spinner. A full toss caught the toe end of Ganesh’s bat and Dipak was seen embracing his skipper. Tension was rising and the Priory hope was fading. H timed one to the boundary but was soon bowled by Dipak. It all ended when Junior drove straight into the hands of Vinnie with us falling 20 short of the target.

Lack of application by the middle order batsmen was the key differentiator.

MOTM: Ganesh for his debut innings under pressure