Kai Tak Vs Mainlanders, M.R
Mainlanders 7 / 135 M.Boss 6-2-3-15, B.Seymour 6-2-20
Kai Tak 5 / 136 (26 overs) M.Naqvi 54, S.Campbell 31
Well not the normal Kai Tak line up for this game. Five new players and one or two that hadn't seen a ball in a bit!!! Lucky for us we were up against the boys from Mainlanders!!
Losing the toss we were given the fielding option, not a bad one to lose with effectively 7 or 8 bowlers this should work out ok. Mitch Boss and Geoff DeLaine got the proceedings under way with a great line and length. With a swinging ball, runs were very hard to come by. Mitch's first 2 overs being maidens!! Geoff's spell was 5 overs none for 9 runs, very frugal indeed!!!!We had them 2 for 18 after 10 overs so i saw an opportunity to throw the ball around to many willing takers.
Nihal Mohammed was chomping at the bit to redeem himself from his first game and was fired up and raring to go!!! He bowled some lovely outswingers and was so very unlucky on many occasions!! I had 2 slips and 2 gullies but their edges still managed to find the gaps. The highlight of Nihal's misfortune came when he finally had one caught but off a no ball!!!!His "Throwing of the toys" nomination was a sure thing after that!!!! Dominic "Bowski" Dunn was also thrown the ball and was rewarded, getting the opener out for 3 runs off 35 balls!!!! Bruce Seymour returning after a long injury showed it was like riding a bike and bowled a great line and length too!!! At this stage i thought all was well but probably should have brought back on the big guns, but i was fully intent on giving just about everyone a bowl. HP "Sauceman" with his B.Y.O fan club and BBQ (Brie) got a wicket on his 3rd ball on his return to top level cricket. New boys Adam Girvan and Malcolm Pratt had a few each, Adam getting a wicket which was expertly taken by our wicket keeper...oh me.. Their highest scorer was unfortunately our wides, 31!!!
So in the end they got to 135, not very good Captaining but i was intent on giving everyone a go and that they did!! With that my brief was, "if we don't get this, i'm giving up"!!
Fidel and Mohsin were sent out, Fidel totally confused with his new role in Kai Tak, not bowling but opening the bat!! Unfortunately that didn't pay off as he fell for only a couple. This brought me to the crease and Mohsin and i got on with the task at hand. The short crap was dispatched and Mohsin sent anything wide rapidly to the point boundary. Both of us were feeling very comfortable and i was even thinking of telling the umpire, we'll play through drinks to finish it off!!! we managed a 63 run partnership before the rails fell off. I was given out, hitting the pitch!! Malcolm lasted a bit and showed that we would still finish it off soon. He fell shortly after drinks and so did Bowski for a golden duck!!! In all fairness they brought back on their opening bowler and he really had that ball swinging in to the right handers!!! He then struck a vital wicket with Mohsin, seeing a dog's breakfast that was made of his stumps by the same bowler. Mohsin had batted very well and even though there were the usual signs of Calypso cricket he put on a very important match winning 54. Suddenly we were 5 for 107 and with their strike bowler getting a sniff i must admit my promise of quitting was starting to look ominous!!!
Fortunately for us Adam and Nihal steadied the ship and saw us through with plenty of overs to spare!!!
In the end a comfortable win but yeah it gave me a few concerns but in the end i was glad that everyone had a dib at it and that is what it is all about!!
12 valuable points and with a tougher game next week, good to get back on the winning ways!! Mitch and Geoff bowled extremely well and Mohsin held strong with the bat, another great Tak effort!!!!
Man of the Match: Mohsin Naqvi
Throwing of the toys: Nihal Mohammed. ("What the hell do i have to do to get a wicket!!??")
Go the TAK!!!
Steve