Whalers win by 7 wickets
Record high temperatures
welcomed the mighty Whalers to CSCS on the 10th of July 2010. After a fantastic
tour in
Captain Giles won the
crucial toss and elected to field first. There were a few groans around the
changing room and not just because Secretary Osgood had spilt his lucozade all over the place.
Opening the bowling was
Khalil and Dan. The atmosphere was electric as Khalil took the new bowl and
began marking his run up. As the opening batsman confidently took his guard
some Whalers could have been forgiven for remembering the last time a
‘teenager’ batted against the mighty Whale. Would it happen again…that
startling succession of boundaries? Apparently not, as the threat of
humiliation at significantly younger hands was just the challenge needed as the
bowlers zipped and thrashed their way through the opening overs. Khalil in
particular was impressive with successive maidens which severely restricted the
opposition. It was Osgood, however, who made the breakthrough in the second
over by taking the opening batsman for a duck.
Replacing Khalil from the
pavilion end was Paul Mildon who came in and bowled an amazing spell which
included a very sharp caught and bowled, though it’s not clear if he intended
on catching the ball or protecting his face from the impending impact.
Osgood, meanwhile finished his spell with Stains and Leightham struggling to make headway with 21 for two.
Kirkness and Mildon carried on the bowling attack and in a period of total pitch
domination the Whalers crowded the opposition with tight bowling and sharp
fielding. Just before Kamal came on to replace Mildon, S&L were struggling
on 35 – 4, Kirkness having removed two batsmen during his spell.
Although Kamal and Kirkness
continued to dominate the remaining opening batsman got his eye in and slowly
the runs started trickling through. However it was clear that the Whalers
bowling attack was in fine form and with some extra special’ness
Kamal took two more batsmen out of the equation, with late addition to the
party (as always) Milanovic also taking a wicket.
The opposition continued to struggle
and the Whale stood mighty at 80-7. Even though the opposition were only playing with 10 men, the Whalers celebration was
perhaps premature as the number 9 batsman came out swinging. With the runs
flooding in Captain Giles decided that enough was enough and brought back
Osgood and Khalil. Both bowlers were tight and were rewarded with the scalps of
the opening batsman and the slogging number 9.
Going into tea with a set
target of 144 the Whalers were confident and S & L with ten men knew that
theirs would be the uphill battle.
The bowling figures for the Whalers
painted a very clear picture. Khalil finished the innings with 6.1 overs, 5
maidens, 1 wicket for 11 runs. Dan finished with another solid 6-2-16-2. Mildon:
8-2-31-1, Milanovic: 4-0-15-1, Kirkness: 5-0-30-2, Kamal: 5-1-14-2 and Captain
Giles with 4-0-20-0.
A very good bowling and
fielding performance won the first half of the day, but would the typical nasty
Whalers collapse rear its ugly head? Only time would tell. To what did the Whalers
attribute this superb display? It’s unlikely that it was James Milanovic
complaining throughout about his chaffing nipples.
After a decent tea, opening
batsmen Khalil and Rob Eberstein took to the middle and after a fast and
furious start came straight back. With 15 on the board and two wickets down,
there were some worried looks, but wicket keeper Oli
Bayne and resident convertible owner Pip English took hold of the game and
dominated proceedings.
Oli looked in immense form and with the kids and missus
watching hit a fantastic 47 which included 7 boundaries. Ably supported by Pip,
the whalers were 108-3 when Oli was caught and
bowled. Next up was Channa who immediately went to work dismissing the bowling
for successive boundaries. After Channa hit his fifth boundary Mr English
strode down the pitch and politely requested that Channa assist him in scoring
his half century. Channa politely acquiesced and the pair exchanged some
singles before Pip hit the ball to mid-field for two runs, a half century and
victory for the Whale!
The Whalers had won the game
in the 24 overs by a very comfortable 7 wickets with Pip English finishing on
51 not out (8 boundaries) and Channa chipping in with 24 not out (5
boundaries).
The Man of the match was
judged to be Oli Bayne for his ship steadying 47 and
one very sharp catch behind the stumps. Paul Mildon won the champagne moment
for his caught & bowled and James Mila won Muppet for his chaffing nipples.
In summary it was a confident display of just what the Whalers can do, when
they put their minds to it and credit should go to the bowlers for their
inspiring performance.
Whalers: 142/3
GTA Zeebras: 141 ao
Man of the match: Ol Bayne
47 and catch
Champagne moment: Paul Mildon c&b
Muppet moment: James Milanovic nipple rub