Sunday 13th of May was the second league fixture for VCC 2 against Almere CC. The game had a late start at 2.45pm. With the weather being on the chilly side throughout the day and a few changes to the team, captain Abbas won the toss and decided to bat first.
Almere was off to a good start keeping it tidy and claiming the wicket of Aryan in just the second over. However, VCC quickly recovered from this and improved the scoring rate with two brilliant partnerships by Nehaan with Atif and Abbas.
Just as VCC looked to post a big score (scoring at 7 an over), some brilliant bowling by Almere’s quick bowler allowed them to get back in the game for the first (and probably the only) time. Picking up 4 wickets for just 23 runs, it seemed like the opposition would restrict a strong batting line up for less than 150. But, realising that they just need to see off that one bowler, Sono and Aled did the basics right and put on a useful 34 run partnership (with both their wickets being saved by a no ball), followed by another game saving partnership by Sono and Floris of 43 runs. With the additional help of the extras, VCC put up a great recovering score of 202.
After a quick lunch, it was up to the VCC bowlers to do their jobs on a pitch that seemed more difficult to bat on, as previously thought.
Sono and Faisal started off well, restricted an attacking Almere batting side to just 4 an over, before Faisal claimed the first 2 wickets. Atif Zaka continued with great line and length bowling and generating some pace, which troubled the batsmen towards drinks break and allowed him to claim his well deserved 2 for the game. To continue the momentum, captain Abbas made a brilliant change of bowling bringing in Floris, who claimed his 2 wickets in his second over. At this point there was some resistance by the opposition batsmen, who survived for 10 overs, but scoring below the required run rate. Another brilliant bowling change by the captain, allowed Kashif to recover from his first spell and bowl the batsman around his leg to get the breakthrough. With the second consecutive victory in sight for VCC 2, Sono and Kashif quickly finished off the game, bowling the opposition out for 152, and winning the game by 50 runs.
With what looks like an already strong and balanced team, VCC 2 has gone off to a great start to their season and will only be looking to build from here.
Performances of the match:
Sono (48), Nehaan (44), Kashif (3-27), and 2 wickets for Faisal, Atif and Floris.
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Scorecard