Scorecard

Optimists Cricket Club 1st XI Optimists v ostende on Sun 26 Jul 2009 at 13:30
Optimists Cricket Club Lost by 140 runs

Match report
Having a disastrous season makes captains do funny things. Accepted practice in a limited overs match is to bat first, in order to put a score on the board and then apply some pressure to the team chasing. However, with such little success behind him this season, skipper Heath won the toss and opted to field. He was made to regret this decision almost instantly as three catches were missed and a run-out in the first five overs. This allowed the Ostend openers to get rid of their nerves and settle down to post a league record opening partnership of 292 in 31 overs. The innings seemed to last forever, as all Optimist bowlers were mercilessly flayed to all parts of the ground. Out of the 45 overs bowled only 6 failed to concede at least one boundary. Nishith Gandhi was the 'pick' of the Optimist bowlers, only conceding seven runs per over and picking up three wickets at the end as Ostende began to lose focus. Understandable really, as they had put the match out of reach already by the 28th over. The final score was another league record - an eye-watering 411 runs in 45 overs.

In response, Optimist skipper chose to open the innings himself and regretted that decision almost immediately as well, mis-timing a pull straight to square leg. His other 'alternative' opener, Roshan Viswanath barely faired any better. Whiteman came in at three and gave the OCC a glimmer of hope with a spirited 65 off 50 balls. However, with his dismissal, hope had all but vanished. With the pressure off, this allowed the remaining batsmen to relax and play some entertaining cricket. Desai in particular, but also Gandhi, Andrews and Narayanan executed some pleasant shots which made you wonder where they had been hiding them all season.

That aside, it was a thorougly disappointing team performance from the Optimists, with all credit going to Ostende for putting us to the sword so ruthlessly. With only two games to go, relegation is all but assured. There is only pride to play for now.

William Heath


ostende Batting
411 for 8
Player name Runs
Amir Iqbal Caught  127
Shar Khan Caught  151
Shafqat Caught  51
Taqeer Abbas Caught  0
Yasir Rana Caught  20
Abdul Rehman Caught  10
Mahammad Shahzad Caught  6
Deepak Balli Caught  0
Shahzad Hamid Not Out  10
Adeel Sheikh Not Out  4
Bilal Yaseen  

Optimists Cricket Club 1st XI Optimists Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Niraj Trivedi5.0146315.339.20
Nishith Gandhi9.0065321.677.22
Taral Desai9.0081181.009.00
Phillip Burleigh4.003600.009.00
Tony Whiteman7.006400.009.14
Saravanan Narayanan2.002300.0011.50
Roshan Vishwanath9.0090190.0010.00

Optimists Cricket Club 1st XI Optimists Batting
271 for 10
Player Name RunsCatchesStumpingsRun outs
William Heath Caught  7 3
Roshan Vishwanath Lbw  11
Tony Whiteman Bowled  65 3
Joost Mees Bowled  4
Taral Desai Caught  63
Bradley Mole Bowled  3
Nishith Gandhi Not Out  35
Phillip Burleigh Lbw  0 1
Tim Andrews Caught  22
Saravanan Narayanan Caught  20
Niraj Trivedi Caught  5 1

ostende Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

  • Umpire :
    Dave Crowther & Dave Chapman
  • Scorer :
    Michael Swithinbank