First match – interclub friendly

04.08.2019 – At long last we finally managed to play an actual match together. Between the core members of Switch Hitters and various friends of friends, we had 22 players on the field on a cloudy but mostly rain free Sunday.

Toss – Sunny won the toss and decided to bowl first. An understandable decision as he had stacked his teams with the premium bowlers after also winning the second toss for the players draft. As a result, Ashish’s team ended up being batsmen heavy. Although in fairness both teams had plenty of bowling options and capable batsmen all the way down to the tail.

So the teams were as follows –

First innings – Put in to bat against the new ball and a formidable pace attack of Dushant, Ash, Rajib and Rahim, Team Ashish managed to post an above par 317/7 off the 40 overs with top scorer Anish (88) marginally outscoring Extras which contributed 82 (nb 10, wd 53, b 15, lb 4). No prizes for guessing what needs to be improved in the bowling department in the future, huh? Dushant and Rahim were the leading wicket takers with two scalps each.

Second innings – Chasing a mammoth total, Team Sunny found themselves 12/1 in the 3rd over. Wickets then fell at regular interval with only Rajib (49) offering any significant resistance with some support, first from Ajith “Anna” and Sunny later down the order. Rahil and Sabi took three wickets each to derail the chase and Subhan finished off the innings with two wickets off consecutive balls to stay stranded on what could have been a potential hat-trick.

And so the first match concluded, very late in the evening as the light faded, with some tired legs and broken bodies. We’ll need to get in better shape to keep the energy throughout the match, improve on the fielding, work on toning down the banter and focusing on bowling good line and length with consistency. Also a trip to Specsavers wouldn’t go amiss hehe..

Few moments on camera that were captured will be available in the Pictures and Video section so be sure to check them out. Until next time…

Ball by ball coverage below for the stats nerds –