Match Report
I cannot recall who won the toss but the outcome was Crusaders to start this time game in the field.
It is fair to say that the Crusaders struggled with the ball in hand. It is a fairly small ground and the outfield is undulating but we bowled fairly poorly. The bowlers consistently went for 5/6 per over with only Sam Singh bucking the trend – his average was 14 an over.
Coleman Hatch’s opening batsmen did most of the damage – both making their centuries. Mr Singer T was the more buccaneering of the two but did offer up chances for a relatively early dismissal. One of these was a zinger that went straight to one of our best catchers. Unfortunately it was a bit too hot for Upkar to hang on to.
So, with Coleman’s Hatch ending up with 284 for 4, they must have felt secure in the knowledge that they had the match in the bag.
Goldy and Jagdesh opened the batting for the Crusaders but, against recent form, he only managed a duck. Jagdesh was immense, smashing the ball all around and beyond the pitch – he scored 100, no more, no less. He was ably supported by captain Waj who scored 33. With Nita also scoring well I think the Colemans Hatch boys might have started to doubt their ‘impregnable’ lead until ….. the common and recurring Crusaders collapse.
Nita was the last of the decent scorers with 26. Chand and Damon did just OK with 12 and 14 respectively but the last four batsmen went for a total of just 14 runs.
We lost the match by 65 runs – close (ish) but no cigar.
I would just like to add a note to offer our wicket keeper, Damon White, a warm welcome back from what was a serious achilles injury he sustained at the beginning of the season. I can assure all of those who know Damon but were not at the match to witness for themselves, that he has not lost any of his stopping, catching and stumping skills.
