Bashers Cricket Club
Bashers Leisure vs Devils Match Report, August 1st SRFC
As the last of the late night revellers emerged from the Dragon Club,some propped up by a few eager young ladies,a relaxed and confident Leisure squad gathered at the Camel bright and early on a steaming hot Sunday morning before setting off on a quest to exorcise the Devils.
After an event free trip to the ground the lads emerged from the bus ready to get on with the task at hand.
Latex in his first match as skipper got off to a good start by winning the toss and wasted no time in throwing down the gauntlet by putting the opposition in first.
Sinbad, along to cheer on younger brother Billy in his run on debut for the Leisure, nobly put his hand up for umpiring duties and Tank stepped up to field to make up the 11.
Big shout out to Mummy Sinbad, Tank Jnr along with Mr Phillip and little Made In coming out and braving the heat to ensure we would have no shortage of support.
With the field set and the merc pushing 40 degrees it was game on.
Groove Rider opened up with a lively first spell with Made In sharing the new ball. Success almost instantaneous as Made In sent down a well flighted fanmazing bamboozler to claim the 1st wicket: a nicely taken catch by Billy at mid off.
The pair kept the pressure on and were relieved by Billy and Omega continuing the pace and spin combination.
Good line and length bowling from both had the Devils clearly frustrated and not scoring much. Billy managed to find the edge of the Devils remaining opening bat and the ball flew low and fast to Latex at slip who threw the big mits out to bag a screamer, the Devils 2 down… or so we thought. Confusion then reigned as the batsman was called back “both umpires apparently unsighted” after some debate and to the disbelief of the field, he was allowed to play on.
The Devils started scoring with a bit more freedom but not much coming in the way of boundaries thanks to Birdshit keeping things tight in tandem with Billy.
With the Devils No. 3 looking a little too comfortable, Made In was injected back into the attack and the move bore fruit straight away – the batsman misjudging a cunningly disguised reverse googling doosra, chipping to Billy again with safe hands at mid off.
At the break the Devils 65 odd for 2 and the Bashers in dire need of rehydration.
In the 2nd term things started to fall away with the Devils picking up the pace. In the punishing heat a few difficult chances went begging and a few more to areas where moments earlier,and on more than one occasion,there once were fielders.
Extras started to mount up and Scooby was made to work hard behind the stumps. Pusher remained undeterred in the deep and threw himself at everything that came his way.
Under the baking sun, the chirp started to die away despite Tank’s best efforts to bring the lads back to life, encouraging Groove Rider to “ride that groovy driver” or something to that effect which was duly noted later at the fines session. Well, whatever he actually said and whatever it meant had an impact and Groove Rider broke through with what appeared to be a fast inswinging corker yorker, sending stumps flying and another little lucifer packing.
Omega’s tidy line and length were rewarded with 2 including a leg side caught behind – slick glove work by Scooby – and the ever consistent Birdshit snapped up another with Made In grabbing his 3rd of the day.
The last ball of the innings saw a run out chance with Shears throwing the stumps down from fine leg, but the batsman well safe (sorry boys – had to squeeze that one in)… A good finish to a tough session, or so we thought, another confusing turn saw the Devils claiming rights to an extra couple of overs on top of what they already had for reasons not quite clear – Omega stepping in along with Latex to refute, quite vocally, this ridiculous claim.
So,the target was set at 195… or so we thought, after a quick recount from Pusher, it turned out that the Devils had somehow gifted themselves 20 odd runs and the revised target finally agreed upon and standing at 175.
Pothole and Omega opened up and wasted no time putting the Devils attack to the sword, with runs coming thick and fast as the lads ran well between the wickets and peppered the boundaries – the best of which was Omega clubbing a towering 6 over backward square.
With the 50 up for no loss, things were looking good and the Devils attack appeared vulnerable after the early onslaught from the Bashers opening pair, until Pothole was clean bowled followed soon after by Omega offering up a catch to mid wicket.
With Scooby and Billy fresh at the crease the Devils livened up. Billy never really got going and was out shortly before drinks. Shears and Scooby pushed on cautiously to the break.
With 100 needed off the remaining 13 overs, Scooby began to open the shoulders finding the boundary with some clean, hard hitting and Shears pushed the singles as the pair set about rebuilding and getting the innings back on track.
Just as the pressure began to ease, Scooby, attempting to launch one into the Zhou Hai Lu train station, was caught on the boundary at deep square leg and Shears picked out mid wicket in the same over.
Captain GG strode to the crease to join Groove Rider with expectations weighing heavy on the big fella’s shoulders – if ever an occasion required a skipper’s knock, now was the time.
Groove Rider looked solid and keen to get after the bowling with Latex very circumspect until finding himself short of his ground in an attempt to keep the score ticking over.
Made In next up and along with Groove Rider, tasked with chasing down a total that by this time was looking further out of reach. Shortly thereafter Made In became Basher number 3 to find the fieldsman at mid wicket.
The collapse gathered momentum as wickets continued to tumble and with Tank unable to bat, the Groove Rider was left last man standing and provided the final act of defiance until he too fell, the Bashers bundled out for 112.
Exhausted,dejected and mighty thirsty, the boys headed back to the comfort of the air-conditioned (of sorts) bus.
Spirits were soon raised as Scooby headed the fines session and as the beer flowed freely, more than a few laughs were had during the post match analysis.
Performances of note with the ball and in the field (sorry guys but do not have the Devils card for the exact bowling figures):
- Made In 3 wkts
- Omega 2 wkts
- Groove Rider and Birdshit 1 each
- Billy 2 catches
- Scooby great work with the gloves
And with the bat:
- Omega 27
- Scooby 24
- Pothole 11
Tip of the hat to our skipper, Latex, who did a terrific job and also to Sinbad for umpiring the entire match in sweltering conditions – top effort lads.
2010 Santa Fe Social League
| Monday 2 August 2010 | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devils CC | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1116 | 791 | 50.16 |
| DPR Hot Dogs | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 597 | 563 | 33.17 |
| Pudong Power | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 806 | 954 | 26.06 |
| Dulwich Knights Seniors | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 867 | 879 | 25.67 |
| Bashers Leisure | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 856 | 1055 | 23.67 |
Sledges
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Well done boys. Sounds like everyone was amongst it...
Santa wasn't amongst it! We were rorted by the weather gods. Nice work with the pen Shears.
Bashers are'nt built for that sort of heat!
I'm picturing Glitoris in that heat with his spray on shirt and tight pants. What a sight!
mmm, like a slippery eel!
Its not all over yet, with just 2.39 points separating Poodong, Dulwich and us its still all on!
Good effort lads. Well 'jacked Shears.
think all Bashers skippers need to practice their tossing... I can't win the toss for love nor money - end result is we get put into the field to suffer. Div 2 and 3 win the toss - end result we put ourselves into the field to suffer...
Here here, better tossers required. The current lot don't cut it.
To be fair to GG weather-wise that would have ordinarily been the right call getting into the field before the middle of the day. Then a nice gentle zephyr picked up in time for their turn in the field.
:)