OCC 2nd XI started off their 50 over BCF league campaign with an emphatic win over Brussel Warriors 2nd XI by 31 runs. OCC had two debutants (Ed Packard & Taha Lodhi) who were handed over their caps by Luxembourg National Team Cricket Captain, Joost Mees.
OCC won the toss by default as the visiting team was a bit late to arrive. Skipper, Mohit Dixit, had no hesitation and elected to bat first. Warriors bowlers took advantage of some moisture and exerted early pressure by getting 2 quick wickets of Amit and Anoop within the space of 3 overs and 7 runs. Warriors felt at the top of their game, however, Ed Packard entered to join Ady Manepalli with some different plans. Ed counter-attacked by scoring 28 runs off the next 3 overs with two 4’s and a monstrous 6 straight down the ground to steady the ship. On the other hand, Ady placed an anchor and displayed great resilience, technique, and composure to build a solid partnership. Ed Packard scored a fluent 68 runs (six 4’s and two 6’s), and along with Ady shared a 3rd wicket partnership of 121 runs in 25 overs. Ady kept on batting, showing with his masterclass that included cuts, pulls, flicks, and signature on-drives. Pankaj and Reinhardt chipped in with quick 20s to accelerate the run rate. The bowlers from the Warriors wrestled the advantage back in the 40th over as OCC lost the momentum from 215-4 to 258-9, courtesy of Yosof Khan who took 5 wickets including a hattrick at the backend. In all this chaos, Ady was still carrying his bat and eventually was the last batsman out for 90 runs (three 4’s), falling 10 runs short of a well-deserved century. Warriors had a good bowling unit, however, lack of discipline cost them 50 runs in extras. The OCC team got all out for 274 runs with 10 balls to spare.
The Warriors knew they have to play out of their skins to chase this challenging total down with a required run rate of 5.7 runs per over. What they did not know was that Ed is as good with the ball as he is with the bat. Ed opened the bowling with Shameek and both the bowlers swung the ball early that left lots of question marks for the batsmen. Ed picked up an early wicket of the opener in his 2nd over and kept on applying pressure with his disciplined swing and seam bowling. Another debutant, Taha Lodhi, joined in with his leg-spin to bowl a miserly spell of 25 runs for 2 wickets in 9 overs. It contained a variation of speed, line, and length that kept the batsmen guessing, hence, unable to break free. From the other end, Raju, Pankaj, and Mohit bowled smartly with not so much luck, still sharing 5 wickets between them. OCC players were very generous in the field and showed their hospitality to the traveling team by dropping a number of catches. Nonetheless, special mention to Oscar Whiteman who led in the field by example and took 2 pressure catches along with haring across the field showing his sharp fielding skills. After watching Oscar’s talent, OCC skipper, Mohit decided not to be left behind and he ran backward, at least 30 meters off his bowling, to take another exceptional catch. Both teams had one eye on the ground and the other on the clouds in the evening that eventually stopped the game briefly with heavy showers. Warrior’s target was revised to 232 in 42 overs and they fell short by 31 runs.
Similar to OCC 1st XI, it was the first 50 over game for the 2nd XI after a space of 2 years. Special thanks to the groundsmen for keeping the Pierre Werner Cricket ground in such great condition and setting high standards for the rest of the European countries. In the end, it was a collective team effort, but it is fair to say that we all enjoyed ‘The Ed and Ady show’!
- Taha Lodhi