Another hot day, overcast, high thirties and very humid. This time versus Swaraj, a second division team from the local Chennai competition. Our second game at the MRF Ground. Being Saturday morning, surrounding parks were flooded with simultaneous games of soccer and cricket, with no clear distinction between who was using which part of the grounds.
After careful inspection of the Aussie $1 coin, the opposition captain Yuuaraj agreed to use it for the toss. He won it and decided to bat.
Our first 50 over match saw our bowlers but in a big effort. A good start with Johnny McKay finding the edge in his second over, however Narayana didn’t quite manage to swallow it at second slip and Prakash had a life.
In his next over though, McKay was happy to get success when a sharp chance at gully was taken by Ford. 1 for 29 in the 6th. Four overs later McKay had his second wicket, Balaji caught at second slip by Pack for 7. (Note: Packy has asked for a new nickname after noting looks of interest from the locals every time we yell out to him “Packy”. Bomber is also reconsidering his lifelong nickname – not a good combination at all.)
Runs were flowing steadily on the fast outfield. Hennessy had bowled 6 overs without luck and was replaced by Liddelow. McKay then had his 3rd breakthrough with captain Juuaraj. He was looking extremely threatening, after an effortless straight drive for 4, he hammered a square cut straight to Brett Riley who gobbled it up at point. 3 for 58 in the 14th.
Liddelow and McKay continued their spells and runs accumulated only steadily with tidy bowling. McKay bowled ten straight and was replaced by Riley who broke though very first ball when a leg glance was taken very sharply by Hennessy. A great catch at full stretch to his left. 4 for 83 in the 22nd and the boys were pretty happy with how things were progressing.
A few overs later Agnal David got a leading edge to Liddelow and Pack took a great catch running with the direction of the ball at cover. (The score line of “caught Packy, bowled Bomber” could raise a few eyebrows here.) The local side now looking a little shaky at 5 for 106 in the 27th.
But a good partnership developed between Ganapathy and Arif. Riley went for a few runs and was replaced by Ford. Ford bowled a tidy spell but after 3 overs succumbed to Delhi belly and had to retreat to the change rooms. Meanwhile Narayana’s off spin from the other end was seemingly welcomed by the locals who looked comfortable against his off spinners.
Burley delivered his first over on Indian soil and bowled a tidy spell, as did Liddelow who bowled 9 overs straight. But the score moved onwards with runs flowing fairly steadily. It was not until the 43rd over when the return of Hennessy saw Arif snick a short one through to the keeper. 6 for 210.
4 balls later, a mix up at the wicket saw run maker Ganapathy run out by the new batsmen for 94. Ganapathy seemed to be at fault but it was a remarkable action by new batsmen Chandron to hold his ground to see Ganapathy sent on his way just 6 runs short of his century.
The runs continued to come on the fast outfield and Swaraj finished at 9 for 261 after their 50 overs.
Hennessy 10-0-52-1, McKay 10-0-40-3, Liddelow 9-1-28-1, Riley 9-0-63-3, Ford 3-0-12-0, Narayana 4-0-36-0, Burley 5-0-26-0
The Pinjarra innings started with some optimism with Pack joining the line-up and batters feeling more confident having had a hit or two in previous games. But the innings started in remarkable fashion. Ford let the first ball of the innings go, only to see his off stump knocked out of the ground. His second duck in succession, and being the opener and getting a golden duck he appeared certain to keep the Duck Tie. But 4 balls later Narayana called for a quick single to get off the mark, and the direct hit meant Davidson was run out having not faced a ball. 2 for none with the first over not complete! (The diamond duck for Davidson meant that he, not Ford, had to pack up the teams gear and then later wear the duck tie.)
This brought Miller to the crease to face the last ball of the first over. This was guided very unconvincingly through the vacant 4th slip at catching height for 4. Could have been 3 for 0 but thankfully wasn’t.
Miller and Narayana soon looked very comfortable and settled the innings. Their partnership had reached 26 by the sixth over with several confident boundaries. However, Miller on 19 attempted a pull shot off Agnal David and a top edge saw the ball ricochet into his brow. This opened a nasty gash and Miller was forced to retire hurt and spent the next 2 hours at the local hospital, receiving 8 stitches as well as lots of advice to wear a helmet when batting.
This saw Pack come to the crease for his first innings of the tour (having had stitches removed from his hand which resulted from a mishap only days before he embarked). Pack and Narayana batted steadily, Pack patiently endeavouring to get his eye in and spend some time at the crease. They took the score to 61 before the introduction of spin saw Narayana snicked one to the keeper off Anand to be dismissed for 26. 3 for 61 in the 21st over.
Pack was out in similar fashion in Anand’s next over. With Miller still at Prasanth Hospital, Pinjarra were now effectively 5 for 68 in the 23rd over, still nearly 200 runs in arrears with only 5 wickets and 27 overs left.
Wickets continued to fall on a steady basis with Hennessy and Liddelow making just 8 and 4 respectively, both falling to the off-spin of captain Yuuaraj. Rawlings came to the crease and then left again one ball later. 7 for 84 (effectively 8 for 84) in the 28th over. Hallyburton survived the hat-trick ball, and was then relieved to make his first run of the tour.
Meanwhile Riley was settling in and the pair put on a steady 31 run partnership from the next 8 overs before Hallyburton was judged lbw for 14. Miller had just returned from the hospital and was welcomed back to the crease by on lookers, still with blood stains on his whites.
Riley played one back to the hands of leg spinner Raj for a well made 19, and Pinjarra were now 9 for 115. Miller and McKay then enjoyed a few overs of quality spin bowling before Miller top edged a long hop from Raj to hole out at midwicket for 29. Pinjarra all out for 129 in the 41st over.
The result was a little disappointing for the team although all players enjoyed the game immensely. Each day of the tour and each match has delivered a new set of special moments, today being no exception.
Swaraj 9 for 261 def Pinjarra 129 all out.
After careful inspection of the Aussie $1 coin, the opposition captain Yuuaraj agreed to use it for the toss. He won it and decided to bat.
Our first 50 over match saw our bowlers but in a big effort. A good start with Johnny McKay finding the edge in his second over, however Narayana didn’t quite manage to swallow it at second slip and Prakash had a life.
In his next over though, McKay was happy to get success when a sharp chance at gully was taken by Ford. 1 for 29 in the 6th. Four overs later McKay had his second wicket, Balaji caught at second slip by Pack for 7. (Note: Packy has asked for a new nickname after noting looks of interest from the locals every time we yell out to him “Packy”. Bomber is also reconsidering his lifelong nickname – not a good combination at all.)
Runs were flowing steadily on the fast outfield. Hennessy had bowled 6 overs without luck and was replaced by Liddelow. McKay then had his 3rd breakthrough with captain Juuaraj. He was looking extremely threatening, after an effortless straight drive for 4, he hammered a square cut straight to Brett Riley who gobbled it up at point. 3 for 58 in the 14th.
Liddelow and McKay continued their spells and runs accumulated only steadily with tidy bowling. McKay bowled ten straight and was replaced by Riley who broke though very first ball when a leg glance was taken very sharply by Hennessy. A great catch at full stretch to his left. 4 for 83 in the 22nd and the boys were pretty happy with how things were progressing.
A few overs later Agnal David got a leading edge to Liddelow and Pack took a great catch running with the direction of the ball at cover. (The score line of “caught Packy, bowled Bomber” could raise a few eyebrows here.) The local side now looking a little shaky at 5 for 106 in the 27th.
But a good partnership developed between Ganapathy and Arif. Riley went for a few runs and was replaced by Ford. Ford bowled a tidy spell but after 3 overs succumbed to Delhi belly and had to retreat to the change rooms. Meanwhile Narayana’s off spin from the other end was seemingly welcomed by the locals who looked comfortable against his off spinners.
Burley delivered his first over on Indian soil and bowled a tidy spell, as did Liddelow who bowled 9 overs straight. But the score moved onwards with runs flowing fairly steadily. It was not until the 43rd over when the return of Hennessy saw Arif snick a short one through to the keeper. 6 for 210.
4 balls later, a mix up at the wicket saw run maker Ganapathy run out by the new batsmen for 94. Ganapathy seemed to be at fault but it was a remarkable action by new batsmen Chandron to hold his ground to see Ganapathy sent on his way just 6 runs short of his century.
The runs continued to come on the fast outfield and Swaraj finished at 9 for 261 after their 50 overs.
Hennessy 10-0-52-1, McKay 10-0-40-3, Liddelow 9-1-28-1, Riley 9-0-63-3, Ford 3-0-12-0, Narayana 4-0-36-0, Burley 5-0-26-0
The Pinjarra innings started with some optimism with Pack joining the line-up and batters feeling more confident having had a hit or two in previous games. But the innings started in remarkable fashion. Ford let the first ball of the innings go, only to see his off stump knocked out of the ground. His second duck in succession, and being the opener and getting a golden duck he appeared certain to keep the Duck Tie. But 4 balls later Narayana called for a quick single to get off the mark, and the direct hit meant Davidson was run out having not faced a ball. 2 for none with the first over not complete! (The diamond duck for Davidson meant that he, not Ford, had to pack up the teams gear and then later wear the duck tie.)
This brought Miller to the crease to face the last ball of the first over. This was guided very unconvincingly through the vacant 4th slip at catching height for 4. Could have been 3 for 0 but thankfully wasn’t.
Miller and Narayana soon looked very comfortable and settled the innings. Their partnership had reached 26 by the sixth over with several confident boundaries. However, Miller on 19 attempted a pull shot off Agnal David and a top edge saw the ball ricochet into his brow. This opened a nasty gash and Miller was forced to retire hurt and spent the next 2 hours at the local hospital, receiving 8 stitches as well as lots of advice to wear a helmet when batting.
This saw Pack come to the crease for his first innings of the tour (having had stitches removed from his hand which resulted from a mishap only days before he embarked). Pack and Narayana batted steadily, Pack patiently endeavouring to get his eye in and spend some time at the crease. They took the score to 61 before the introduction of spin saw Narayana snicked one to the keeper off Anand to be dismissed for 26. 3 for 61 in the 21st over.
Pack was out in similar fashion in Anand’s next over. With Miller still at Prasanth Hospital, Pinjarra were now effectively 5 for 68 in the 23rd over, still nearly 200 runs in arrears with only 5 wickets and 27 overs left.
Wickets continued to fall on a steady basis with Hennessy and Liddelow making just 8 and 4 respectively, both falling to the off-spin of captain Yuuaraj. Rawlings came to the crease and then left again one ball later. 7 for 84 (effectively 8 for 84) in the 28th over. Hallyburton survived the hat-trick ball, and was then relieved to make his first run of the tour.
Meanwhile Riley was settling in and the pair put on a steady 31 run partnership from the next 8 overs before Hallyburton was judged lbw for 14. Miller had just returned from the hospital and was welcomed back to the crease by on lookers, still with blood stains on his whites.
Riley played one back to the hands of leg spinner Raj for a well made 19, and Pinjarra were now 9 for 115. Miller and McKay then enjoyed a few overs of quality spin bowling before Miller top edged a long hop from Raj to hole out at midwicket for 29. Pinjarra all out for 129 in the 41st over.
The result was a little disappointing for the team although all players enjoyed the game immensely. Each day of the tour and each match has delivered a new set of special moments, today being no exception.
Swaraj 9 for 261 def Pinjarra 129 all out.
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