Whalers CC vs Cairns Fudge CC; Sunday 14th July 2019; King’s House Sports Ground
A bit of morning rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the 9 whalers who assembled (eventually) for a 10am start, to take on the Cairns Fudge who lent us Andrew to make it a 10 a side game. With 5 whalers present the toss was promptly won by the fudge and the Whalers were batting. An order of some kind was determined and it was Dean and Dan who strode to the wicket which looked quite green and likely to be on the slow side.
The bowlers decided that a generally short length was the way to get at the Whalers, however this theory proved ineffective as several balls were sent to the boundary in the first few overs. With pace not looking threatening, spin was introduced in to the attack and after a couple of looseners, was able to drag Dan forward and beat the bat resulting in a stumping. Debutant, Thomas, was in at 3 and got his Whalers career off to a solid start playing a couple of nice drives off the spinner. The score soon passed 50 but in the 10th over Dean drove a ball straight to mid off and was out caught for 33.
Special was next in and continued to rotate the strike with Thomas. Eventually though, with the score on 74, Thomas was out for 11 after being bowled by left armer Oli who was causing a few issues. Andrew was in at 5 and went on the attack, punishing anything short or straight. Special was next out, bowled by Oli for 5 and Jeh followed in the same way for a first baller in his first game for the Whale. At the other end Tejas was out stumped, also in his first game without scoring and with the Whalers on 82 and 6 down, a couple of good partnerships were needed.
Debutant Harpal set about rebuilding the innings with Andrew, but with the score on 100, Andrew was bowled by opening bowler Stu for 18. Nick replaced him, and after playing some cricket shots, including a bottom edge cut shot for 4, was out caught and bowled after (possibly unwisely) chipping a forward defensive shot back to the bowler. Harry (5th debutant for the day) was in last and with Harpal playing confidently, held up an end, pushing the singles with some great running between the wickets. The odd swipe from Harpal for 4 and the excellent running got the score to 138 before Harry holed out to mid off for 7, leaving Harpal not out on 22. The partnership yielded 33 valuable runs for the last wicket. Whilst considered a bit below par, if we bowled well and got a couple of early wickets, we’d be in with a shout.
Dan and Nick opened the bowling, but went for plenty in their first few overs, the kiwis were keen to get the target chased down so that they could get to the bar to watch the world cup final. Dan got the breakthrough after one opener played a shot too many, holing out to Thomas at long off who held on to a tough catch. Next over Nick knocked over the other opener with the score on 45, if we could jag a couple more quick wickets, we’d be right in the game.
The batsman though applied themselves well and continued to hit our bowlers around. Harpal was in the action again with the score on 78, getting a direct hit run out from square leg but this was the last piece of good news for the Whale. Nick bowled well and finished his 7 overs straight through, going for 31 with 1 wicket despite beating the bat numerous times. Thomas was introduced in to the attack and bowled with pace but the batsman were able to hit anything miss directed. At the other end, Andrew had an over and got hit comprehensively. Special was tried as was Harry, but both struggled with lines and were also expensive. Eventually some good batting ran our total down in the 20th over.
So a tough loss for the Whale but a big thanks to the 5 debutant Whalers who turned out and made a good game of it.
Man of the Match: Harpal for his much needed 22* and direct hit runout
Champagne Moment: Thomas’s catch at long off to break a dangerous opening partnership
Muppet: Nick for pushing for an early start, then turning up an hour late
Whalers: 138 all out (Dean 33, Harpal 22*, Extras 27)
Cairns Fudge: 3/142 (Nick 1-31, Dan 1-34)