Match report courtesy of Sporting Alfas CC
On a wet miserable morning, Sporting Alfas secured their submersibles and packed the Pedalos and set sail through the rain up to Valencia where, upon entering the city, the clouds held off, the rain stoped and the game went ahead without any doubt ever!
Losing the toss, Alfas were put in to bat and McKinstry and J. Perman resumed their new found partnership and started well, putting on 20 in the first four overs. However, Harsha had had enough and in the 6th over, found his radar and clean bowled Perman for 10, 23/1 off 6.
Abdul came in and found it hard to get the ball away. Harsha doing a great job of digging the ball in to make it rise up on the batsman who couldn’t work it away due to lack of space. Abdul falling two overs later when Harsha varied his delivery and another bowled was the outcome, 28/2 off 8.
K. Perman joined McKinstry in the middle but in the 10th over, called for a run that was just not there and with all the backing up in the world, McKinstry was not able to make his ground and Levante had a bonus wicket, Alfas giving it to them, taking nothing away from a good bit of fielding and throw mind you, 38/3 off 10.
Laundon came in and calmed down both the game and Perman. Between them they started to build rather than panic and, while not scoring too quickly, great bowling from Nisar and Taylor was part of this, they lasted 11 overs together before Laundon could only chip Sunny to Ali, not quite getting hold of the shot, as his exasperated comment could attain to and Alfas were 62/4 off 21.
Byrne joined Perman and looked to mount another partnership but Perman fell 2 overs later when once again Sunny tempted the batsman and this time Perman found Tivey and was gone for 15, Alfas 71/5 off 23. Waqer joined the fray and took a different approach with Byrne, the partners trusting each other and taking quick singles for a few overs to progress the score until, Sunny once again put in a tempting ball and Byrne looked for the boundary only to see Noone in his way, ball watched the whole way and Noone took a great one handed catch on the boundary to see Byrne off, Alfas 90/6 off 27.
Evans was a victim of some ring rustiness and was back in the hut next over, failing to cover the stumps to Tivey’s deadline accuracy. Bash and Waqer then tried to put on some more runs and managed to add another 30 to the score before Waqer (26), looking to move the score on and reach the 150 mark was caught in the deep by Tivey off Harsha once again and things got worse for Alfas next ball when Harsha got 2 in 2by clean bowling Bash for 11, Alfas 123/9 off 36 with the last pair in.
Captain Perman had a job on his hands, not only looking to score but guiding Dell through the finer points of batting “don’t look at me, run!” instantly creating a new legendary cricketing quote! Dell, at times solid with a straight bat, at times looking like a panicking bullfighter managed to ruin Harsha’s figures with two 4’s in a row! Dell finally fell on the penultimate ball, Harsha picking up the wicket to give him a fully deserved 5for and leaving Captain Perman (9*) averageless for the league in 2015 with another not out.
After tea, both teams took the field again, Alfas feeling that their total could be a little low and Levante looking to win the match to keep pressure on the top of the table with a double header against Madrid to come next week.
However, Bash had ideas of his own and 1st ball, clean bowled opener Ali with a marvellous swinging ball and Alfas had their tails up, the worry of the low total disappearing as the bails flew.
The solid Noone joined Caesar at the crease and made sure to play carefully to see himself in after finding himself at the crease so early. Bash made another breakthrough in the 7th over, completing his opener pair by bowling Caesar as he had done to Ali, Levante 2 down and scoring slowly, 14/2 off 7.
Taylor came in next and between him and Noone, steered Levante through the early troubled waters, both batsmen playing straight and safe, although Taylor did have one moment of worry when he looped one off Bash high into the sky that a back peddling Perman was unable to hold, granting Taylor a life. Both batsmen continued together for 7 overs before Alfas struck again.
Abdul got one to pitch and swing to Noone and clipped the top of the stumps to send him on his way for 14, 37/3 off 14. Bash then had another over that Levante would like to forget when he got Lofthouse and Nisar within 3 deliveries, both going for ducks and Levante were now in serious trouble, 39/5 and Taylor holding them together, being joined by Harsha who Alfas knew could not be taken lightly.
After Taylor helped himself to two 4’s off an Abdul over, the Alfas Brain Trust got together and decided to bring on Danger Dell a bit sooner than normal to see if his left arm could do some damage. However, it was the change at the other end that got immediate results.
With Bash bowled through and finishing with great figures of 4 for 10 off his 10, K. Perman took over from that end and got an immediate breakthrough. After dropping Taylor earlier in the innings, the full extent of his plan was laid bare as he got Taylor to repeat the shot from earlier but this time, Waqer was underneath and the catch was safely taken, Taylor departing with a wry smile at the situation. 58/6
Dell then emulated Harsha and got 2 in 2, prompting cries of ANDYYYYY throughout the rest of the game and indeed the long car ride home. Sunny clean bowled 2nd ball as Dell got some nice movement and then Tivey, coming in to shore up the batting left one that ended up coming back in late and clipping off stump! 62/8 and with the Levante Captain unable to bat due to a bad tumble earlier in the field, Levante were down to their last pair.
Wright was the last man to fall, J. Perman having a little cameo at the end of the innings and claiming the wicket, getting Wright to pop one up to his brother who this time, having got a wicket and a bowl, decided to take the catch and Levante were all out for 71, 24 points for Alfas to finish their league campaign with a win and leave the league open for 1 of 3 teams to claim it going into the last weekend.
Great thanks to Levante for another enjoyable match and here’s to resuming battle next year.
Alfas MOM – Basharat Ali, excellent bowling spell and one drop short of a 5-for..
and here is Levante’s take on the game…
On an unusually grey, damp Sunday morning in September the Levante 2nd XI arrived at the VCG knowing that a good win would send them top of the table with only two matches to play. Spirits were high as Captain Pete “wily old fox” West won the toss and invited Alfas to bat.
Hoping that the strong bowling side would be able to skittle them out for a low score, first choice bowlers Sam “bright by name, bright by nature” Wright and Harsha “out to impress the girlfriend” Sri set about the Alfas opening pair. After seeing a difficult chance put down in his second over Harsha “isn’t this impressive?” got his reward in his third, clean bowling Perman round his legs for 10. Alfas were 23 for 1 and Levante had the break through. Another wicket fell in his next over as Harsha “this will have impressed the girlfriend” clean bowled Abdul. 28 for 2 off eight overs. Meanwhile at the other end Sam “still looking bright” was doing a good job at keeping the runs down. The Levante teams’ tails were up.
Two overs later more jubilation as a sharp piece of fielding from Ali “Mr dependable” Zaib saw McKinstry run out, well short of his ground. At this point Alfas began to steady the ship. Despite some excellent bowling from first change pair Martin “laid back” Taylor and Nisar “I got five wickets for the firsts” Mughal which restricted the batsmen to three an over, they were unable to get further wickets before the drinks break. Alfas were 61 for 3 off twenty overs.
An inspired bowling change by Pete “masterful tactician” West brought on Sunny “Mr Cool” Prince who took a wicket in his third ball, as Ali “still Mr dependable” took a fine catch at mid on. Disaster was to strike for Pete “I’m young really” West though who, showing a youthful turn of speed trying to stop a ball at point, managed to stand on the ball and effectively put himself out of the rest of the game. This meant a change of plan and Dave “I’ve got another new bat” Tivey came on at the other end, bowling well to keep the pressure on Alfas.
Wickets continued to tumble with Sunny “even more cool” tempted Perman who could only slice the ball into Dave “two bats” hands. 71 for 5 off twenty three overs and things were looking good for Levante. Some resistance from the two batsmen saw them reach 90 before the next wicket fell. Sunny “ever so cool now” Prince, again tempted the batsman to go for the big hit and Jason “I’m the best fielder in the club” Noon lived up to his pseudonym and took a magnificent one handed catch on the boundary. Next it was Dave “ might be three bats” Tivey turn to take a wicket, clean bowling Evans. 92 for 7.
A mini stand by batsmen Bash and Waqer saw Captain “cunning” bring back Harsha “is she impressed yet” Sri and Sam “ tell Harsha to slow down I’m tired” Wright for another devastating spell of bowling. Two wickets in two balls by Harsha “she must be impressed by now” saw Alfas slump to 123 for 9 with four overs left. In the final over Harsha “we’re all impressed now” Sri got his fifth wicket. Alfas were all out for 147
An excellent bowling and fielding performance by the Levante team.
Spirits were high at tea and the Levante team smelled victory, however they got off to the worst possible start as Ali “not so Mr dependable now” Zaib was clean bowled first ball of the innings. In came Jason “I’m going to get more than Martin” Noon much sooner than he had expected and he and Caesar “three names” Sampaio steadied the ship for a while until the seventh over when Caesar “I can think of another name now” was bowled. 14 for 2.
Next up Martin “I don’t feel quite so laid back” Taylor who, after a shaky start, being dropped in the covers, began to show his inimitable style of batting. Seven overs later another wicket fell as Jason “Martin got more” was bowled for 14. Things went from bad to worse in the next over as first Andrew “big hitting but not this time” Lofthouse was bowled and three balls later Nisar “perhaps he’s not that good with the bat Jason” Mughal suffered the same fate. And Levante were reeling at 39 for 5.
In came Harsha “I’ll really impress her now” as Levante still retained some hope of salvaging a win. A mini revival brought the total to 58 before Martin “no longer laid back” Taylor was caught out attempting the same shot that saw him dropped earlier. In came Sunny “you’ve blown the Mr cool thing now” and out he went again going for the big swing and missing. That left Dave “I’m not going to use my new bat” Tivey as he left a ball that hit his stumps to continue the slump.
With captain Pete “I can’t bear this anymore” West deciding that the pain of watching his team collapse so completely, coupled with the slight irritation of an ankle that had swollen to twice its original size made it too difficult to bat. That left Sam “the brightness is fading a bit” Wright as the last batsman. Sadly he was unable to score the 77 runs still needed and Levante were all out for a paltry 71
A sobering experience for the team but we live on to fight another day and look forward to some better batting in the double header against Madrid next week.