Photo: Tom and Aadvik in the middle
Sunday May 27 was a perfect day for a cricket match – bright sun-shine, gentle breeze and lush green outfield… The ever energetic VCC U13 team against an equally enthusiastic team Kampong – the match was bound to be a thriller. Having lost the Flamingo indoor tournament to the Kampong team, the VCC team was determined to play better and the Kampong team too was keen on retaining their dominance.
Kampong team had eight players whereas VCC had ten. So the coaches agreed on two players from VCC not playing the game for 4 overs. After each set of 4 overs, these non-playing team members would be replaced by other two players. This ensured that all the VCC team members got an opportunity to participate in the match.
Kampong won the toss and elected to bat. Tom and Alejo gave a magnificent start to the VCC team by bowling tight overs, conceding just 12 runs in their 4 overs. Tom took the crucial wicket of Ashmit (one of Kampong’s kids in the Dutch Lions team) in the first over with just 1 run on the scoreboard. Farhaan and Mathew followed by putting pressure on the Kampong team. Kampong had slowly started to gain control and runs started pouring in the form of some boundaries and cheeky singles. Farhaan gave another blow to the Kampong team by bowling out Samir (another Dutch Lion). Owais from Kampong team took over the reins from Samir and stabilized the team. He was ably supported by other team members. The VCC fielders did a good job – a good throw by Carlijn to keeper Cedric managed to run out Owais. The rest of the VCC bowlers Carlijn, Danial, Aadvik, Sarang and Ahan did not give any respite to the Kampong team. All bowled a good line and length with very few wide and no-balls. The Kampong team steadily increased the pace and kept the score board moving. The final 5 slog overs saw some hard hitting by the Kampong team and resulted into setting a decent target of 156 runs to the VCC team.
With a formidable target of 156 in sight, the VCC team brought in Farhaan and Danial as openers. Kampong got an early break-through in the form of Danial’s wicket. Tom stepped in and together with Farhaan the score board quickly started moving at a faster pace. Both the batsmen did not take any time in settling down – some very good strokes in all directions were seen today. This partnership added an excellent 63 runs to the score before ending with Farhaan’s wicket (23). Cedric then joined the party alongwith Tom. The first six of all the matches played so far by VCC this season came off the bat of Tom. After 13 overs – about halfway through the innings, the score was already 105 with still lot of batting to come. Tom retired after hitting a superb boundary with 53 runs to his credit.
Even in such a strong position, the VCC batsmen showed immense restraint – playing some good shots interspersed with some good running between the wickets, not taking any chances. The Kampong team tried all possible strategies, but the VCC team was unstoppable. The team achieved the target in the 19th over itself, by a convincing 4 from Cedric (49*). The rest of the VCC players were still given a chance to play the remaining overs.
After this convincing victory, the team gathered together to discuss with the coach Tim and understand what did they do right and what could have been done better. After all there is always something to learn!!!
What a wonderful match indeed!!! After such an exciting game of cricket, both the teams intermingled and had a good lunch together. Thanks Kampong for your hospitality…
-SK
