Bell CC Vs Venturers, Thursday June 4th

Venturers 141-6 (20), Bell CC 142-4 (18.2)

Play-Cricket Results

We haven’t managed to beat Bell CC in our last two outings, both ending as narrow defeats. Despite the rivalry, Bell is a genuinely friendly club, and given that Joji is one of their members who occasionally dons their colors, the atmosphere was as relaxed as it gets. Because Bell turned up two players short, Joji’s sense of fair play kicked in—he recruited our own Monish and Jonny West from Bear Flat Dads to bolster their ranks. As it turned out, both played brilliantly for the opposition.

With Imran side-lined by badminton commitments, Dinesh took the reins as acting captain, fresh off a long-haul flight from Hong Kong. Our squad was decidedly youthful and inexperienced, featuring debutants Oscar and Yuvan, plus the return of Hannan. Although rain threatened earlier, Odd Down green gave us the all-clear. It was an incredibly windy evening on a gloomy, pothole-riddled pitch that looked like it would keep every bowler on their toes. Dinesh won the toss and elected to bat, with the captains agreeing on a two-run rule for extras (barring the final over) and no retirement rules. Oscar stepped up for square-leg umpiring duties.

Dinesh, perhaps suffering from the lingering effects of jet lag, had a bit of a wobble with the batting order, eventually getting a helping hand from Joji. Mizan was slated to open with Matt, but traffic conspired against him, so Dinesh called on Rubbaniy to open instead. The pair started slowly on the tricky wicket, though Matt began to find his rhythm after surviving an early chance. Olly, the first change bowler, provided the breakthrough by sending Rubbaniy to the keeper. By then, Mizan had arrived, and Hannan offered him the number three spot. Joji then reminded everyone at the scoring table that Matt had volunteered for scoring duties before the game—the very next ball, Matt lived up to the jinx by gifting an easy catch to Olly at deep mid-wicket.

Joji joined Mizan in the middle to steady the ship. Mizan struggled with the gloom but found his touch with a few trademark boundaries, and the pair agreed to build a slow partnership before accelerating after the 15th over. Dinesh, officiating as the main umpire, was in a tough mood and rejected several LBW shouts. However, Joji’s luck ran out when he faced Archie’s slow delivery; he attempted a cross-legged swat, the ball hit his back leg, and Dinesh nodded firmly for the out. Joji looked unhappy convinced it was drifting down leg because of his leg guard, but Dinesh having the best view was unmoved. Mizan had his doubts about the straightness of the ball but accepted the decision. Gregory was missed. Hannan joined Mizan, and the two ramped up the scoring. Mizan was looking dangerous at 46 until he was bowled on the first ball of the final over, followed immediately by Chirag, who met the same fate. Dinesh then joined Steve in the middle, hitting a straight boundary that served as both a hat-trick ball and his first shot of the season. Later, when Stu struck Dinesh’s pads and appealed for LBW, Joji—now umpiring—rejected it. He was immediately grilled by the opposition for not providing a “payback” for his own dismissal, but Joji stood his ground, maintaining it was traveling down leg, a point even Stu conceded. We finished on 141/6, a very respectable total for a T20.

Joji and Steve shared the wicketkeeping duties. Dinesh and Chirag opened the bowling but struggled with their line and length in the swirling wind. Chirag’s first few deliveries were so wide they were practically being bowled in a different postcode, then found his line to pick up Cameron’s wicket thanks to a sharp catch by Hannan, before returning to his wayward ways. Dinesh settled into a strong spell, cleaning up their number three. The debutants Oscar and Yuvan got their first taste of the action, with Yuvan’s spin delivery prompting a polite, smiling query from Pete about whether it was a “chuck” or just extreme hyperextension but accepted the village cricket factor.

After the debutant spells, Debangan and Mizan came into the attack. Jonny West was busy feasting on the part-time bowling, but Mizan finally ended his charge when a ball struck back at him; a one-handed reaction catch that was half-reflex and half-divine intervention but the ball decided to glue itself to his palm for a lucky wicket. Steve took over the gloves from Joji and did well keeping the second half. As Bell climbed toward 120, Dinesh brought Joji to deal with the threat. His first two balls were absolute catching chances at mid-off, but Oscar dropped Pete on the first and let the second sail over him after an unannounced field change Joji wasn’t aware of. Archie, the man who had dismissed Joji earlier, managed two boundaries, but guess who got the final laugh by bowling him with a quick delivery.

Venturers boy Mohit then joined Pete at the crease. Matt was introduced to bowl in place of Mizan but had no luck with the wickets. Joji bowled the 15th over with good discipline, giving away just two runs to keep the game alive, though Mohit managed to strike a six off Matt in the following over. With the game finely balanced, Dinesh discussed tactics with Joji and decided that Dinesh would bowl the 17th and 19th overs, while Joji would take the 18th and 20th, bearing the responsibility of defending the final over. The 17th went for six runs, and the 18th remained equally tight; in both overs, the batters were careful not to risk any big shots, opting instead for singles and rotation of strike-a strategy that was working well for them except a boundary Joji mis-fielded.

Pete is highly experienced, and they also had Olly to follow, which Joji had specifically warned Dinesh about. It came down to a tense finale: 10 runs needed off 12 balls. Then, in the 19th, Dinesh’s first ball was overpitched—an easy gift for Pete, who smashed it for six to reach his fifty. With four to win, the very next ball was a similar delivery, floating toward Oscar at long-on. Misjudging the flight, Oscar ran in just as the ball landed exactly where he had been standing before, sailing for four. It was an easy win for Bell, and Joji spent the rest of the evening being thanked for finding them such excellent players.

It wasn’t the result we wanted, but for an inexperienced side featuring two debutants and a captain straight off a long-haul flight, it was a valiant effort. We’ll be looking for redemption when we face them again on the 24th.