Washington Cricket Club

Scorecard

WCL-Spartans CC v Washington Cricket Club WCC-WMCB on Sun 17 Jun 2018 at 12:00 PM
Washington Cricket Club Won By 7 Runs

Match report Washington Betters Spartans in a Thriller to Get First Win in 40-Over Tournament

It seemed like an eternity since the quest for 40-over championship began but finally the rains made way for a sunny day to have cricket. As if the on-field shennanigans aren’t enough at a club level, this game featured a switch in venue to Frederick and an absconding umpire that added to the flavor. The only thing not surprising was the seemingly dead Frederick wicket and outfield that could be compared to the long flowing hair of a bollywood actress. With an agreement that the clubs will umpire their own innings, the coin was flipped and Viral won yet another toss and asked the Washington openers to pad up.

Sam and Barood, a.k.a. Anil Bhai, walked out to the middle and with the very first ball confirmed that the wicket was low and slow, and the runs weren’t going to flow. The pair got Washington off to a careful start picking up 21 runs in 7 overs with a solitary boundary before Sam (4 off 18) edged one to the keeper. An over later, Anil Bhai (15 off 28) edged one to slip to give Spartans their second dismissal with the score at 25. This brought the pair of Ritwik and Ankur at the wicket. While Ritwik was cautious in his approach, Ankur was more enterprising. With few singles and doubles, and a couple of boundaries sprinkled here and there they carried Washington to 49/2 in 14 overs at the first drinks break. At this point 150 seemed well and truly on the cards and looked like a score that would take some chasing. The next few overs after the break were more of the same until Ankur (24 off 36) played an unnecessary shot to throw away his wicket. At 67/3 in 19 overs, Washington were still comfortably placed. The next few overs changed that. Within a span of 3 overs, Ravipal (0 off 4) was dismissed off an acrobatic catch by the keeper, Ryan (1 off 9) went for a walk while the keeper had the ball and was stumped, and Ritwik (14 off 52) undid all his hard work by playing an irresponsible hoik. With 70-odd for 6, 150 seemed like a long way away. It was up to Elango and Viral to breathe some life into the fading Washington inning. Both played with immense restrain to carry Washington to 89/6 in 28 overs at the second water break. Boundaries were scarce but both Elango and Viral batted with intent to push the score along. Elango (19 off 37) was brilliantly caught at the boundary in his attempt to get quick runs with the score hovering around the 110 mark. Avi joined Viral who was looking well set to launch an onslaught. Despite his efforts, Viral (34 off 46) could only manage a solitary yet monstrous six and a boundary before being undone for a very well-made 34. Rajiv (8 off 5) and Avi (7 off 8) scrambled for the last 10 balls or so to add a few and take the score along to 146/8 in the allotted 40 overs.


While Spartans knew that scoring 147 was not going to be easy, they had two things going in their favor - they knew the target, and the 90-degree weather that Washington bowlers and fielders needed to endure. Ankur started the proceedings with a routinely disciplined first over. However, Sam on the other end had difficulty finding his line and length and conceded double digit runs, mostly extras. Not a start that Washington were looking for but nothing they could not recover from. Viral brought himself on in place of Sam and for the next few overs strangled the run-flow along side Ankur. The pressure even brought Zain’s wicket who perished trying to play an ill-advised sweep shot to Viral. Ryan and Sam relieved Viral and Ankur, respectively, and continued with the good work. Spartans went into the first water break with the score at 38/1. With runs on Washington’s side and wickets in the Spartans’ shed, it was still a very even contest. Elango replaced Sam and brought an end to Naqash’s long vigil via a good catch from Ritwik. Despite a run-drought and Washington picking up Imran Salim as well, Amir Zia seemed determined to take the game down to the wire. Ryan, Elango and Venkat combined for the bulk of the overs until the second water break to restrict Spartans to 84/3. With 63 needed off 72 balls the game was still in the balance especially with Amir Zia at the crease. Viral went for 9 in the 29th over but Ankur and Viral bounced back well restricting runs and picking up wickets, including that of Amir Zia, along the way over the next 6 overs. With 32 required off 30 and 4 wickets to go, Washington was in control. Elango replaced Ankur, who finished his spell, and picked up wicket number 7 with his very first ball. But this is where things went terribly wrong for Washington. Three consecutive wides down the leg side cost 11 runs and tilted the scale heavily in favor of Spartans. Along the way, Elango aggravated an injury on his arm and was unable to complete his over. Ritwik came in and did a bang-up job of bowling the remaining deliveries, and picked up a wicket. Spartans needed 19 off the last 24 balls with 2 wickets in hand. Viral, in his final over, conceded 6 but picked up a valuable wicket reducing the equation to 13 needed off 18 with 1 wicket in hand. Ritwik bowled a heck of an over conceding only 3 runs and then Sam bettered it by going for only 2. Spartans needed 8 to win off the last over with their last pair at the crease. Washington entrusted Ritwik to bring it home. Ritwik bowled 2 dot balls and the desperate shot destined for the boundary off the third ball found Ankur a few feet inside the boundary to end the game. Washington prevailed by 7 runs.

Despite being noticeably better in all departments, lapses of concentration in all departments made the game closer than it should’ve been. 34 extras while defending 146 is criminal, and Washington has their otherwise exceptional bowling to thank for the extras not costing 3 valuable points in their quest for promotion and championship. Viral was the man of the match for his 34(46) and 8-2-27-3. Special thanks to Mr. Behera for volunteering to umpire on behalf of Washington, and a honorable mention for the Spartans umpires for officiating the game fairly.


--
Ankur Saini

Washington Cricket Club WCC-WMCB Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 16w 1b  
for 8 wickets
20
146		        
Anil Kumar Singh ct ct. Imran B. Junaid I 15 28 53.57
Sameer Apte ct ct. Naqash B. Junaid I 4 18 22.22
Ritwik Behera ct ct. Imran B. Ammar H 14 52 26.92
Ankur Saini b Zain A 24 36 66.67
Ravipal Panesar ct ct Naqash B. Zain A 0 4 0
Ryan Sooklall run out Naqash 1 9 11.11
Elango Asokhan ct ct. Amir B. Junaid I 19 37 51.35
Viral Patel b Muhammad N 34 46 73.91
Avinash Varma Not Out  7 8 87.50
Rajiv Jain Not Out  8 5 160.0
Venkat Vasabhaktula  

WCL-Spartans CC Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Mohammad Niaz8.003400.004.25
Junaid I8.0039313.004.88
Zain A8.0220210.002.50
Muhammad Naeem7.0026126.003.71
Ammar H8.0020120.002.50
Farhan K1.00600.006.00

WCL-Spartans CC Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
25w 3b 6lb 
for 10 wickets
34
139 (39.3 overs)		     
Naqash T ct ct. 18
Zain A lbw Viral P 5
Amir Z lbw Viral P 32
Imran S ct ct. Anil B. Venkat V 12
Junaid I b Ankur S 12
Muhhmmad Naeem ct ct. Elango B. Ankur S 4
Farman S ct ct. Sameer B. Elango A 12
Ammar H ct ct. Ritwik B. Ritwik B 2
Masoon A Not Out  0
Farhan K b Viral P 4
Mohammad Niaz ct ct. Ankur B. Ritwik B 4

Washington Cricket Club WCC-WMCB Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ankur Saini8.001829.002.25
Sameer Apte4.001700.004.25
Viral Patel8.022739.003.38
Ryan Sooklall8.011600.002.00
Venkat Vasabhaktula4.0020120.005.00
Elango Asokhan4.3122211.004.89
Ritwik Behera3.301025.002.86