Sat 18th Feb. Kai Tak Vs Police at PTS.

Kai Tak 9 / 224   M.Brown 55, B.Haskett 39, C.Williams 27

Police 128      B.Morley 8-5-16, D.Overton 3-1-5

Finally some good news to write about. Although lingering at the bottom of the table Police were no team to under estimate, especially after the scare they gave us in the cup semi last season!! Fortunately i won the toss and decided for some much needed batting practise. The ever reliable Mohsin was sent out with our old favorite Fitzy as his support to take on the worrying Khalid Khan. It wasnt to be Mohsins day, needing 70 runs to hit the 500 run mark for the season, well he fell 70 runs short!!!  Mal Brown then went in and together with Fitzy put on a valuable partnership, best of all at 7 an over!! Fitzy looked like he was on his way but got fooled by the quick ball from the leg spinner, an absolute JAFFA, out for 17. I went in next hoping for my "big one", well i guess 20 runs is a big one for me these days.. Brown fell shortly after getting his 50, something he has managed to do 4 times this season! The ever impressive Brad Haskett strode to the crease glowing of confidence. He then went to town on the Police bowling, showing little respect for all their bowlers, the 6s were coming thick and fast!! Brad made a fine 39. Chris Williams and Morls put on a handy partnership later CRW making 27, Morls 14. Fidel blazed a quick fire 14 n.o, something he is becoming very usefull at nowadays. Duncan Overton batting at 11 protected his averages well by blocking out the last over and remaining at 2 n.o. Duncs was relieved to see that Khalid had run out of overs by the time he got in, it took about 10 minutes to take all the protective gear off that he had on!! So 224 was a reasonable score in 34 overs and on a very slow outfield, i wanted around 250 but knowing the bowling we had i knew 224 was more than enough!

Open up with the twins Morls and CRW saw Police lacking any kind of challenge, they were about 34 runs after 10 overs with a wicket each to the guys. Some great Captaining saw many bowling changes, most guys hitting the mark, but when Morls was brought back in just before the break, the big fella didnt let me down getting another wicket. I kept him on after the break and we saw some of the best bowling from him that we have seen in a long time. All be it not a strong batting team, his 5 wicket haul was well worthy and saw Kai Tak get their first bowling Honours board entry, well done Morls!! With the luxury of having the game in the bag, the ball was thrown around to give most guys a bowl. One of the Taks favorite sons Duncan Overton, stepped up to the plate and threw down 3 great overs, only going for 5 runs and also claiming a very illusive wicket maiden, it really brought a smile to the big fellas face!!! Duncans commitment to Kai Tak over the years has been flawless and it is great to see him get a run and do well!!!

Yours truly decided to bring himself on much to the deriding from his so called team mates. I dont know if it is just pure jealousness but the guys seem to react when i want a bowl??? Our close in fielders were encouraging the batsmen not to go out at all costs, and i am sure i heard Morls tell him that he wont catch him if the ball was hit to him!!! With that all in mind thankfully i got one to turn about 3 feet, totally bamboozling the batsman and taking out middle peg, which prompted some of our players to querie the umpire if it was a  no ball. Fortunately the umpire was to have none of it and it was game over!! S.Campbell 3-1-9.

Drop catches! CRW, a dolly. Fidel, tough one but love the act afterwards, trying to pretend you pulled a muscle..huh! Morls, thinking he was 10 years younger, dived for one that would have game him catch of the season, he made a meal of it in the end, but not a bad effort. I will only mention my chance as i know that everyone will scream if i dont but apparantly one that was hit in my general direction and falling about 5 meters short went down as a chance in some peoples minds...whatever!!

Mal Brown did take the catch of the season behind the stumps, diving full stretch to his right, catching it just off the ground. Browny had a great day having 3 catches to add to his 55, great stuff Browny, you looked about 20 years younger during that dive!!!

All in all a great day for the Tak. We had alot of laughs as we like to do, lots of banter, mainly directed at me, a great day for cricket!!! The batting still has to improve, we cant have most our team getting to 20 or 30 and going out, to get the big scores we need someone to go on with it and make the tons, something we have the talent to do but we just arent converting it to the big scores!!! The bowling was great, was nice to have all those options but then have everyone also bowling well!! Fidel did have a go at Nick Hawkes 14 ball over record by bowling a 10 ball over!!!

The bbq at my place afterwards also saw the banter continue, with many comments and unwanted advice on how to Captain etc etc. It was a great night with a great bunch of people!!!

Man of the match: M.Brown/B.Morley

Mug of the day: M.Naqvi (yes finally!!!)

Well done guys, go the TAK!!!!!!