TRYING TO CONQUER EVEREST!!!!

Michael Taylor

Very few have conquered Everest on their first attempt, but on August 9, 2003 the Everest Cricket Club, still smarting from their tie against
Cleveland 1, ventured along to our very own home ground on Curtis Wright Parkway to test themselves against the Cleveland 2 line up. Whilst it was
known prior to the game that some regulars such as our beloved leader Rajan, wicket keeper Sudeep as well as inform all rounder Shiva would not be playing. There was an injection of talent to assist us in our cause, and after all a team is only as good as the depth that it contains. That depth
was tested again in the warm up when Murali did a tragically accurate impersonation of a thoroughbred at nearby Thistledown Racecourse that had
just done a fetlock. However rest assured, unlike that thoroughbred we were not about to pull out the 22 to put him out of his misery, despite this it
soon became clear that the already depleted bowling stocks would take another hit, Murali was not playing...enter Navi. His sudden call up was
greeted with joy from the Cleveland 2 team. Not only was it good to see the rookies enthusiasm at being included for his first game but his presence
also bolstered the nicotine consumption amongst the team that would be sadly
lacking in Rajans absence!!!

After all of that drama we went into the field (no need to mention the toss) and it would be Sameer, our acting captain and the steadily improving Kiran who would take the attack to the very highly rated Everest batting line up. Kirans ability to startle the batsmen with his variable length saw him
dismiss Talib in the second over without scoring bringing Lawrence to the wicket. Progress for Everest was steady but not spectacular, unlike the
Cleveland 2 bowling line up. Sameer in his third over, twisted his ankle on his delivery stride and he fell to the floor. Thankfully the damage was not
as severe as it could have been but the experts took a look at the situation concluding that if he were to bowl he should bowl out his spell rather than
let it stiffen up, making bowling impossible. Hardly a choice which one would relish but Sameer showing leadership and a vast amount of courage
continued to trundle in and complete his allotted overs in succession. Maybe it was the injury that planted the seed of thought into Sameers head, or
maybe it was the bowling performances of his three main strike bowlers that led Sameer to continue bowling them either through to the end of their
allotted overs or very close to it. Lokesh who was bowling with great control continued through his spell and he finally removed James for 21 then
Rahul was promptly dismissed for 2 just before the break the score 3/57 after 15 overs. Sameer had backed himself by the heavy use to his three main bowlers thus far, responsibility would fall upon the shoulders of part timers, (not all of whom had bowled a great deal so far in the matches)
Gourav, Raj and Nikhil to take the initiative. Soon after the break, in his second last over Lokesh had the dangerous Puneet caught at long off by
Michael for 14, however the dangerous Lawrence was still occupying the crease. What transpired in the remaining overs was an enthralling battle
between bat and ball. Predictably the run rate of the Everest side did increase with the part timers bowling but certainly it was not the blowout
that some had feared and the score did not explode. In fact the run rate did not take off like it had against other sides when more credentialed
Cleveland 2 bowlers were hurling them down. Raj in particular bowled quite well and his 1/21 from 4 overs did not reflect how well he performed.
Despite the heavy use of his strike bowlers Sameer did save a little for the end brining back Kiran to bowl the very last over, he bowled it well
conceding a mere 3 runs and FINALLY getting the wicked to Lawrence for a well made 60. Fahad scored an impressive 29 not out and he ended up being the second top scorer. The final score at the end of the allotted 30 overs was 6/170. A good score, but one that was certainly obtainable. Could it have been less. Of course it could have some catches were dropped that should have been taken and we can always look back on misfields and wides but generally it was not too bad. Either way it was finished and it was now our turn to see whether we were good enough to overhaul the target. The bowling honours were shared equally by the three main strike bowlers Kiran 2/22 from 6 was impressive, Sameer bowled with courage finishing with 0/22, whilst Lokesh took 3/28 from his 6. As mentioned earlier the performance of Gourav, Raj and Nikhil was admirable under the circumstances. A special mention ought to go to Sai for his performance behind the stumps. His catch
behind the stumps which he was the only one to appeal stunned everyone except the batsman and the umpire who duly gave it out, gave us all
something to laugh about, but it was his enthusiasm and vocal input was particularly impressive. It was the first time that he had the gloves on for
over a decade and his performance was excellent under the circumstances, well done Lebron.I mean Sai

Even though he kept wickets for 30 overs the Sai Sanpathkumar act was far from over. Due to Rajans absence Sai became a fully fledged Adam Gilchrist clone by opening the innings and it was not long before we saw that trademark late cut in action against the very impressive bowling of Lawrence and the able support of Rahul. However Rahul's influence was limited as he could not complete his fourth over, hobbling off, what was it with the bowlers today???? Slowly but surely the runs began to flow. Sais confidence grew as did Nikhils despite clear frustration that was rectified by clubbing a six, after missing three balls in a row!!! Unfortunately Sai was dismissed for 14 just when it seemed as though he was ready to take off. Lokesh strode to the wicket but to his disgust he was on his way back very quickly bowled by Nikhil, (yes they have one as well) for a mere 2 bringing Michael to the wicket just prior to break. At this stage consolidation was the order of the day and both Nikhil and Michael did just that before the break and they saw themselves to 2/57 the same score as ECC at the same stage with roughly eight per over required. Possible but not overly likely against a well credentialed attack led by the talked about Puneet. I don't know whether it was something in the Gatorade but clicked after drinks as the required run rate began to fall. Both Michael and in particular Nikhil took charge against the spinners dispatching them to all parts of the ground regularly scoring over the required rate in fact they added 55 runs in five overs, bringing back scenes reminiscent of last weeks Shiva and Sameer show. The once vocal Everest field had gone quiet as the Cleveland 2 side was getting a whiff of victory, actually taking the
equation down to one a ball but then trouble struck. Nikhil playing a ball off his hip, flicked the ball fine with exquisite timing only to find itself
in the hands of an Everest fieldsman at deep fine leg who ran across to take a very impressive catch that if it was not taken would have sailed over the
fence for six. This was a crucial turning point in the game. Michael seemed to lose his way trying to flick a gentle inswinger, the first that Michael
had faced from the wirely medium pacer to find his woodwork rearranged. It was not pretty. Unfortunately from there the procession continued:
Sameer bowled by Lawrence for 7.Gourav clean bowled the very next ball by that man Lawrence.Lawrence was denied a hat trick but he did bob up again when Raj played a nice cut shot, the only problem was it was straight into the hands of than man again LAWRENCE. In fact both Lawrence and James with some very late assistance from Fahad destroyed the Cleveland 2 tail dismissing the Cleveland side for 141 some 30 runs short of the target, the collapse was rather monumental. From being in a position to close out the game it got away. Everest to their credit are a good side that have played together as a unit for a long time and when the pressure was on they, unlike Cleveland 2 held their nerve, something we can learn from the game. We can also learn that despite not fielding what was clearly not the best side on paper we do have the spirit and the depth to beat ANYONE, we all know how close it was, we can do it.
In the end the top scorer for Cleveland was Nikhil once again for 48, whilst Michael got amongst some of the runs again for 27. As for Everest James
finished with 4/18 from 4.5 overs, while Fahad took 3/35from 6, whilst man of the match Lawrence bowled brilliantly taking 2/14 from 6 overs. As for Cleveland 2 another close one that got away, we can only ponder on what could have been...again, but that's cricket and the match is over.
In concluding we wish Everest luck for the remaining games that they have this season It was great to have an aggressive, competitive but at the same
time fair contest against a decent group of guys for the second week in a row. Next week we take on Akron a game that we have a very good chance of winning...if we can get some fit bowlers