I am pleased to say that Ani remembered his shoes, though Ravi N forgot his clothes initially and Prashant was dressed for a day night encounter. As per usual we lost the toss, one we were desperate to win, Haslingden chose to bat and Patrick and Prashant took the new ball. McIntosh was dismissed early, run out thanks to a sharp throw from Devi to Michael, which was given out. In true calypso style the home team was not going to let wickets get in the way of scoring runs and having a good time. Summer lived a charmed life until being given LBW to Prashant and Shergil was to follow soon after, caught by Sunny coming in from slip. The rest of the innings followed a similar tune of the batting team chasing runs without caring too much for the overs remaining and as a result a steady flow of wickets tumbled. Murali in particular was damaging to the home team taking three wickets in the middle order in including the dangerous Richards. A particular highlight that needs to be mentioned was Ani’s shrewd captaincy, which came to the fore in the dismissal of Khan. Having dispatched his first couple of deliveries to the fence in dazzling fashion Ani changed things completely bringing on Badri who suckered Khan into a lusty shot only to pop it up to Patrick at mid wicket for an easy catch. The only spanner in the works came when Morgan batting too far down the order at six who decided enough was enough and swung at everything. He connected a few times but was running out of partners and his downfall came when yet another shrewd bowling change saw Sunny take the ball for the first time this season and do what only Sunny and JP seem to be able to do…take a lot of wickets in a very short time. In the space of nine deliveries Sunny took three wickets and conceded only one run in a performance we will be unable to forget…mainly because Sunny will get great pleasure in reminding us.

In the end Haslingden were dismissed nine deliveries short of their allotted overs all out for 168 with Morgan top scoring with 34. For the good guys Murali bowled beautifully taking 3/29 from his 7 overs. Prashant took 2/23 from his allocation and then there was Sunny with the figures of 1.3-0-1-3…(not a misprint). To be fair to the other bowlers they all bowled at least fairly well. Our catching could have been better but our general awareness was good as was the captaincy of Ani. The tally of 169 to win was never going to ever be a problem although greater catastrophes have taken place in the recent past and being Australian I am painfully aware!!!!

Ravi N strode to the wicket with new boy Badri and seemed hell bent on trying to better Gautam and JP’s effort from the Shihab game with a sparkling run rate from the get go. Haslingden opening bowler McPherson had an idea to dismiss Ravi on the hook or pull by bowling short….not a good idea and he was dealt with accordingly. Unfortunately for Badri he was dismissed in the fourth over for 14 when the ball deflected onto his wickets. No great worry though as the score was already 50. Murali arrived and departed just as quickly to a smart catch by Khan at point while Sunny prevented a hat trick by dispatching McPherson for four. Both Sunny and Ravi went about ensuring a victory in rapid time. Aided by a hard outfield, generous slope of the field both batsmen were in dazzling touch with 95 being put on before Sunny was dismissed for an even fifty in the 14th over. Gaurav arrived and paid the penalty for forgetting the low bounce of the wicket at Kerriush park bowled by Richards top spinners before Ani decided enough was enough and blasted 16 not out complete with a six of the final delivery. Victory was completed in 17 overs with Ravi N playing very well for 66 not out. For the bowlers the figures were rather ugly with the only wicket taker McPherson being hit for 61 off 4 overs.

Before dashing off to Geauga Lake Sunny was awarded the man of the match for a terrific display with the bat and ball as well as running further than any other fieldsman for the day.

It was a game in which we had to win and win well. We have a stiffer challenge coming up against the talented COBCA line up. So lets get switched on for that one.

Special congrats to Cleveland 2 for such an impressive weekend of victories. The effort on Sunday against such quality opposition as ECC was particularly impressive well done.