|
The Clydesdale Tour Squad travelled to Port Soif on the coast to take on a "Fly for Sport" Representative XI (basically Guernsey U16 Select with a couple of older guests – O Lepp and W Peatfield – the destroyer of the U16’s on the same ground 2 years ago!) Andrew Scobie lost the toss and Clydesdale were asked to bowl first.
The opening bowlers Johnny MacKay and Scott Turnbull bowled well, and with Scott picking up the first wicket (a skied pull well caught by Umair Chaudhry at mid wicket). 13/1 off 9 overs.
The Fly for Sport XI then built a very good 2nd wicket partnership, batting well and stifling the efforts of the bowlers. Wicket 2 eventually fell in the 28th over after a good bowling in tandem from Bilawal Pirzada and Haris Chaudhry had built some pressure – as a loose shot saw Scobie take an easy catch off Haris. Two more quick wickets (one bowled by Bily and one great direct hit run out from Scobie) saw the score move to 129/4 off 34 overs…And then Clydesdale fell to bits – the bowling was poor, the skipper had a slight miscalculation issue, the fielding looked tired, the last of some 6-8 possible catches was dropped and the field setting could have been a bit better. (The poor fine leg fielders got pretty bored other than retrieving wides which went no where near Ginge.) Umair and Johnny did pick up late wickets, but Fly for Sport added exactly 100 off the last 10 overs and finished 236/6 off their 45 overs.
The challenge laid down was simple – bat the overs and who knows what might happen. Jasim Beg and Calum Campbell opened again. With the score on 1, Ginge was bowled by one that turned sharply from the opening spinner. 1/1 off 4. This became 27/2 off 14 with Jasim caught behind for 8. Hamid Mahmood batting at 3 and Arthur Johnson batting at 4 built a good partnership. Mushy started watchfully before expanding his repertoire by punishing the bad balls, with a range of good straight shots and fierce pulls off anything short. With Mushy looking set for a deserved 50, he got bounced out by the slow left arm spinner for an excellent 46. The over before the second drinks break saw Arthur (11) and then Finlay Walker (2) both out. 114/5.
15 overs, 123 to win. 5 wickets left, needing 8.2 an over. Any betting man would have said no chance. Team Manager / Coach Tim Hart did…and the dinner and drinks bill came to £275.
After 32 overs it was 128/6 with Scobie caught behind off the toe of the bat for 26…and the nemesis from 2007, Peatfield, was on and bowling quick too. Johnny MacKay and Arun Krishna did the basics well – got bat on ball, left the wides, ran hard and picked the gaps. Arun, after having a slight backing away first ball reflex, hit Peatfield for a crunching cover drive for 4…and suddenly their danger bowler was removed from the attack with 3 overs for 27. Johnny and Arun kept roughly up with the asking rate. A good fifty partnership pushed the score past 150, then 175, then 200 as it looked like Johnny and Arun might lead Clydesdale to an unlikely win. 82 off 10 overs, became 43 off 5. With the score on 213, the unthinkable happened as Johnny played across the line and was bowled for an excellent 34. 3 overs, 24 to win. A four from Arun was followed by a single, giving Scott Turnbull the strike. Pressure situation…so Scott plays a prefect lofted on drive for 4…before suicidally running himself out. (The tension was getting to everyone, as umpire Jay “Panda-Eyes” Duncan briefly lost a bail…before finding it in his hand!) 227/8 off 43. 230/8 off 44. One over, 7 to win.
Ball 1: Haris facing, driven over point for 4.
Ball 2: Single to point.
Ball 3: Arun facing, single to mid on to bring up a deserved 50 (which was only confirmed after the game)
Ball 4: dot.
Ball 5: wide ball, an unlikely Dale win!
Overall management verdict – the early bowling was good but things went very flat when the wickets didn’t come. A brief period of pressure from the bowlers gave way to some pretty poor cricket for the last 15 overs, and Fly for Sport got an extra 20+ runs. Speaking of extras, 52 of them were gifted – 42 wides. With the bat Jasim (8 off 44), Ginge (0 off 12) and Arthir (11 off 44) seems really slow at the start, but they batted around Mushy (who was superb) well and tried to build partnerships. All this set the bottom order up for the heroics that followed. Bat on ball – it really is that simple. The aggressive running allowed Clydesdale to sneak back into the game without the opposition really knowing it. Arun’s 38 ball 50* and Johnny’s 34 in 37 balls were great to watch. An epic win…the second half was easily the best cricket from a Clydesdale team over the 3 Tours to date.
|
