Whalers v Rising Globetrotters – Kings House, 17/07/22
After a late change in opposition – and with thanks to
Rising Globetrotters for stepping in – , the Whalers assembled at Kings House
at the start of the summer heatwave to the slightly disappointing news that the
bar was closed and they had a long trek to pitch D for this game. After some
bench faff from Geoff and Dean that ensured seating arrangements were precisely
angled in the correct area of shade, and in sync with the earth’s coreolis
effect, skipper Josh did exactly the right thing and won the toss, sending Dean
and Pip out to open the batting.
In what was surely an unprecedented start to any Whalers
match, the Whalers raced to 12 without loss before a legitimate ball was
bowled, with Dean carting the first two no-balls for 6 and 4 respectively. The
Globetrotters opening bowlers struggled to settle into a good length and more
boundaries followed from Dean’s bat, but once the bowlers started to hit the
pitch more regularly, it soon became clear that the strip was perhaps not the
dry “road” some might have thought. A number of deliveries kept low, on what
was looking to be quite a dead wicket. Definitely a “play forward at all costs”
sort of wicket, which unfortunately not all Whalers adhered to. Pip was first
to go, bowled off stump when only half-forward. Amit helped Dean get the score
to 50 but was then also bowled playing back trying to pull a ball that kept a
touch low and after that, wickets fell all too regularly. Vishal hit a nice
boundary before being bowled top of off stump from a good delivery, and at the
first of 2 drinks breaks after 12 overs, Whalers were 67-3, but with Dean still
profiting from playing forward and batting a way outside his crease.
Geoff was in at 5 and helped rotate the strike with some
neatly dabbed singles, facing some change bowling which was probably stronger
than the opening pair, although the extras contribution continued to assist the
Whalers overall score considerably. Geoff lofted a catch to short midwicket for
11 and then in the same over, Raman shuffled across his stumps to be LBW for a
duck, to leave the Whale on 87-5 and still with a lot of work to do. With their
tails up, the Globetrotters bowlers excitedly appealed for everything, but in reality,
they did not have to wait too long to get their reward. Romesh joined Dean and
kept him company for a good few overs, helping the score past 100 and Dean to
(perhaps apart from the first 2 deliveries) quite a hard-earned 50. However, in
seeking to up the ante and hit the Globetrotters bowlers off a length and over
the top, Dean, having been dropped a couple of times, was caught at long-on for
56 with the score on the dreaded 111. The Nelson curse seemed to work as Dean’s
confidence in the Whalers lower-order was not matched by events on the pitch
sadly. Ronish was bowled for 3, Bilal for 1, before 2 wickets in 2 balls ended
the Whalers effort with Josh getting a leading edge and Kamal going LBW first
ball. Whalers were 121 all out in 28 overs. Despite a tricky pitch, with some
uneven bounce, this was still a below-par score and the team knew they would
need to bowl and field very well.
Unfortunately, things did not get off to an ideal start as
Bilal’s first ball full-toss was slapped by No.1 Pankaj straight to a slightly
startled Raman at cover, who unfortunately could not quite hold on. Not the
easiest of chances but the outcome of the game could have been quite different
had that catch stuck. Openers Bilal and Vishal struggled to find consistent
lines and lengths similarly to the Globetrotters opening bowlers but were not punished
as heavily. Nevertheless, having been given a life, the Globetrotters No. 1
Pankaj, was starting to play some nice shots to pierce the infield. Bilal soon
had the other opener plumb LBW though and Whalers were on their way. At the
other end, Vishal was bowling economically, but without getting the line quite
right to regularly cause problems.
However, a bowling change after 8 overs brought some reward
with Suhaib picking up the wickets of Rajendra (caught neatly by Raman running
forward) and Peter (safely held by Josh at mid-on) to leave the Globetrotters
on around 35-3. Unfortunately, some questionable umpiring decisions caused some
controversy on the field around this point, with one seemingly clear edge to
the keeper off Amit’s bowling not given and Raman being extremely unlucky not
to get their Number 5 out LBW hit on the back leg to one that looked very
adjacent, before the same batsman was dropped by Amit from a sky-er that caused
some confusion between Amit and Ronish. With the Number 5 riding his luck, but
providing some strong support to the resolute Pankaj, Whalers tempers were
starting to fray a little and there was a risk of the game drifting away from
them. However, Raman bowled a fine spell of leg-spin and was rewarded by
bowling their number 5 after he had taken one swipe too many. Raman then had
the Number 6 caught well by Vishal and at about 80-5, the game was back on. At
the other end, Kamal was also starting to cause problems for both batsmen,
regularly beating the bat, as taking the pace off the ball seemed to prove a
useful strategy. Pankaj however, began farming the strike very judiciously and
with the run rate never an issue, the Globetrotters ticked over to drinks
without further wickets down.
At drinks, Suhaib decided he would take over keeping from
Geoff, which, given the uneven bounce, Geoff was not altogether unhappy about.
However, the move clearly did not inspire confidence in some of the Whalers’
bowling attack, with Amit’s response being “so have we given up already, then?”
The Whalers however, had not given up. Certainly, no one had
told Bilal, as he returned to bowl one of the most dramatic overs of the
Whalers’ season so far, removing 3 batsmen, sadly not as a hat-trick, but on
another day, this could easily have been the case. Number 7 Niel was plumb LBW,
before Kapil nicked through to Suhaib and Inda was bowled. The same over also
included another chance, this time dropped by Suhaib behind the stumps, as well
as another LBW shout turned down. A brilliant and dramatic over had left
Globetrotters 8 down, still needing about another 15 runs to win.
Unfortunately, with Bilal bowled out (belatedly realised by
Josh), Dean, who also bowled tidily and Amit, replacing Bilal, were not quite
able to find the last 2 wickets needed and the ever-calm Pankaj steered his
side to a 2-wicket win with a fine innings of 64 not out.
In the end, with not enough runs on the board, Whalers fell
short, but the team could nevertheless be proud of their efforts with the ball,
and if one or two more catches had been held and decisions gone their way,
Whalers could have pulled off a remarkable win. Unfortunately, it was not to be
on this occasion.
Man of the Match: Bilal – 7 overs, 4-16
Champagne moment: Bilal’s triple-wicket over that
could have had more
Muppet: Suhaib for promoting himself to keeper only
to drop a relatively straightforward chance and then trying to nominate other
“drops” for muppet moment.