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VCC Zami Reports

Hero Harry’s century brings handsome win for the Zamis

“So that’s how it’s done guys.” King Harold address his subjects during the third innings.
“So that’s how it’s done guys.” King Harold address his subjects during the third innings.
In one of the finest Zami performances in recent years, King Harold scored 139, accumulating the majority of the 229-6 score, led by an incredible 10 sixes and 11 fours. He also almost achieved the rare feat of staying in for an entire innings before being caught in the 34th over. No wonder the rain gods held off so that they could also watch this stunning innings from the clouds.

In one of the finest Zami performances in recent years, King Harold scored 139, accumulating the majority of the 229-6 score, led by an incredible 10 sixes and 11 fours. He also almost achieved the rare feat of staying in for an entire innings before being caught in the 34th over. No wonder the rain gods held off so that they could also watch this stunning innings from the clouds.

The result was made even more remarkable by the fact that the game almost never happened. First it was transferred from VCC to Sparta, as we did not have a spare pitch for the fixtured league game, and neither did Kampong. Then it looked like rain from the outset, and only the sense of mindless optimism that you only get in cricket, with 22 sets of fingers crossed, prompted the sides to risk it and start playing anyway.

Ja, dat heeft ie van z’n Pa!

122-run partnership

In the end, we need not have worried, as the sun came out for the whole game. We batted first, with the opening partnership of Harry and Dave getting off to a flying start before Dave was caught on 14. Mohammad came in before yielding to a deceptive spinner, and then Nick was caught with a stroke that led to helpful suggestions he should have tried a “reverse sweep”. But maybe it was fate, as in came Chris, eventually producing an 18-over partnership with Harry of 122 runs that may be a candidate for a Zami record for a fourth wicket.
Haroldinho notched up his 50 after as many minutes, and then got to the 100 on an hour and a half, following a nail-biting run-in while perched on 98. Three of his 10 sixes came consecutively in the 33rd over. The partnership with Chris survived two scares, with a near run-out and a dropped catch, before Chis was eventually bowled.
In came Auke, who fell to an LBW, ushering in Marek, before the curtain was finally drawn on Harry when he was caught. His epic 139 off 104 balls was not a personal best but will live long in the memory. Harry was replaced by Kaushal, who ended the innings not out with Marek; Stefan, Jatin and John did not bat.

The Silk Road to the mountains

So, we had left Kampong with a mountain to climb as we took to fielding. Stefan opened the bowling, while keeper Kaushal kept a tight wicket, and John adopted the newly rebranded position of ‘Silky Square Leg’. It didn’t take long for the first scalps to fall. In only the third over, Stefan bowled their opening batsman and then bowled his replacement two balls later.
Dave caught the next one on a ball from Chris, leaving them three down before the fourth over had been completed. Stefan then made it three clean bowling-outs in the seventh over before Kampong settled down a bit, staging something of a comeback with a beautiful six and a couple of fours. So, it was time for our secret weapon.
In comes Jatin, who caught them off guard with some sneaky slow bowling, the second of which leisurely sauntered past the batsman before taking out the middle stump. Two more highly casual wickets were to follow. You’ve heard of fast bowling and spin bowling; how about slow bowling that makes the batsman think he can whack it as it gently bypasses his stroke and then plops onto his wicket, having briefly stopped for a gin and tonic en-route to the stumps. A masterclass in bamboozling an opponent.

“So that’s how it’s done guys.” King Harold address his subjects during the third innings.

Catches actually do win matches

There were still more heroics from Harry who took a superb high catch on the boundary, a feat later matched by Nick, who strained every sinew to get to a similar aerial lob, much to our (and his own) astonishment. Our fielding generally was workmanlike, with no real comedy moments, except for John trying to run with a discarded sweater dangling around his legs.

Not that Kampong didn’t make us sweat. They also showed that they could hit a few sixes themselves, including two in a row in the 22nd over that had us searching for the ball in almost exactly the same piece of undergrowth, followed by a third six three balls later. The three-sixes-within-an-over trick was repeated in the 27th over, and a run rate that at one time was over 12 an over became just seven in a short space of time.
Winning the game suddenly became do-able for Kampong, and we started to worry. Buttocks were clenched. But with eight wickets already taken, they simply ran out of batsmen. The final two were dismissed in relatively quick succession, their last man with a ball that only gently caressed the wicket to remove a bail without anyone noticing at first, giving VCC a winning margin of 55 runs with seven overs left to play.
Our thanks to Kampong for being so flexible in agreeing to the changed venue, and to Sparta for hosting both of us at short notice. VCC will perhaps become aware that just as Heathrow needs a third runway to achieve its ambitions, our club needs a reliable third pitch to achieve ours!