Match Report
Sunday 25 April –v- Norwood at Norwood Lakes
Crusaders travelled to Norwood Lakes with what appeared, on paper at least, to be a strong starting eleven. They returned empty handed after failing to adapt to the conditions, as Norwood ran out comfortable winners. The skipper was one of four changes to last week's side, with Jabs, Mike and Johnny Grrr replacing 2 Singhs and a Shamoo.
Wajih was delayed in traffic (no new season's resolution then) so Pommie called incorrectly in his absence and we found ourselves inserted on a grassy strip. A little overnight rain had juiced up the pitch and the outfield would have benefitted from a few less inches of grass.
Pommie pulled the first delivery of the day to the boundary, but that confident start was not to be followed up. The very next delivery was flashed at and edged to the keeper. Wajih arrived just in time to see the departing Singh. Norwood generally put the ball in the right areas and the game became a war of attrition, with Mike settling into a very dull net session and Chand becoming increasingly frustrated at not being able to get the ball away. Chand eventually danced down the track, missed by a country mile and was stumped, bringing The Claw to the crease. With Mike he painstakingly built a recovery and the score meandered into the fifties. Mike's occupancy came to an end in the 22" over - a relief to anyone who has a genuine love of the game.
Brief cameos from Jabs and Wajih threatened to generate a good finish to the innings, but both departed to mistimed drives when looking set. Johnny G top scored with 18 (extras apart) and played some characteristic punchy drives and the innings came to a close on 115.
If ever a Galilean miracle were needed to feed the Cricketers 22 it was at Norwood. Certainly for everyone to get some donut Jesus would have had to be on top form.
It was vital that we made early in roads if we harboured any hopes of an improbable victory, and Moysey gave us the perfect start nipping one back to remove Greaves in the first over. Unfortunately for Crusaders the pitch improved as the day wore on, with none of the inconsistent pace and bounce that had caused so many problems during our innings.
Norwood batted positively and was happy to throw the bat at anything loose. With no further breakthroughs Wajih turned to Spud, who immediately removed both of the free-scoring Norwood batsmen. Spud would like to claim they were the result of a new mystery delivery that he has been working on - the long hop doosra. The only real mystery is why each delivery did not head for the boundary. A couple more wickets and the result could have been so different, but several opportunities for run outs were spurned, with wild throws, which led to some high pitched squeals from our portly keeper. Upkar, Pommie and Jabs all had unsuccessful spells with the ball as Niraj and Shah carried Norwood comfortably to target.
