Mike throws his front foot out, as Zafar Khan looks on.
Oregon Cricket Club Eugene tasted defeat for the first time this season, on May 8, 2010, at the Lord’s of Oregon, John Deere Field, Gresham. Two social matches were played on that beautiful day against arch-buddies MCC, and the hosts underlined the absense of captain Kamal Thangarasa with comprehensive victories.
MATCH 1, 35 overs a side.
Put in to bat first, OCCE was straightaway in the pressure cooker, with Oregon Cricket League star bowler Burt Swanepoel yet again doing the honours with his left-arm inswingers, rearranging the stumps of stand-in captain Daniel Mundra and coach Mike Partridge in successive balls. Before long, the top and upper-middle order were back at the pavilion and the second half of the line-up were left to do some serious damage control; MCC offered to let the batsmen play a second time in OCCE’s innings. This, however, was not to be, as Nirmal Raj took full advantage of the lack of swing from the change bowlers and kept the scoresheet ticking, with Matt Smith and Gentle Anderson joining in to build valuable partnerships. They took the team’s tally to 128, out of which 49 came by way of extras. Nirmal ended up with 50 off 40 balls, seven boundaries included.
In spite of not having Ephrim Bruno in their ranks, MCC scored at a good clip. Although their partnerships were not massive, they were enough to keep victory within sight at all times. This enabled them to overcome their guests’ competent bowling and high-octane fielding to achieve their target with plenty of overs to spare. They played our their innings and finished with 11 runs more than OCCE.
MATCH 2, 15 overs a side.
In the abbreviated format, MCC elected to bat first, and sent in Burt Swanepoel to open their innings. He responded by hammering away at the bowlers with strokes that flew all over the wagon-wheel. Zafar Khan showed why he is still the best cricketer in Oregon by converting perfectly good deliveries into effortless sixers. Despite choking at the death, MCC had done enough and set OCCE a stiff target of 140.
The reply never looked threatening at any stage, with wickets tumbling at regular intervals and the batsmen simply unable to find the boundaries as frequently as they would have desired. Sohan Akolkar’s 21 and Gentle Anderson’s quickfire 18 lent some respectability, but in the end, OCCE fell short by 41 runs and went home with mixed memories.
- Nirmal Raj.
Nirmal, Sohan, Titu enjoying the ride back home
