Optimists Cricket Club

OCCers 1st XI win easy in their first outing of the season.

The sun shone on the Walferdange oval, and the OCC first XI turned up to play cricket.

Super Strikers won the toss and elected to bat. The new OCC opening attack of Hashmat (0 for 18) and Asghar (1 for 15) started a little slowly but both were better in their second overs. Murali (16 from 14) was the first Striker to fall as Aman took a brilliant catch running at full steam around the boundary. First change bowlers Ed (0 for 15) and Sareer demonstrated good control and the powerplay ended with Strikers going at less than five an over.  

It was Sareer that struck next, cleaning up the dangerous Thejesh (8 from 21) as he looked to accelerate. Sareer picked up his second shortly afterwards as keeper Will Cope successfully juggled a catch down the leg side. Sareer ended with 2-15 from his three overs in another promising outing from the lefty. He was replaced by family man Mohit Dixit (1 for 18) who cleaned up Chandan (20 from 25 balls). At the other end, Milad (1 for 20) struggled to adjust his radar initially but found a better line and length in his second and third overs, picking up Deva (9 from 14) in the process, thanks to a good catch from Pankaj. 

OCC’s reliance on medium pacers, and too many wides, meant they were a long way behind in terms of the over rate and were facing at least a five run penalty. Vice-captain, patient Pankaj, had seen all this before and when he was finally asked to bowl promptly picked up three quick wickets whilst also getting through his two overs in about 45 seconds. This was a classy performance from the former Luxembourg international; he will be missed when they take to the pitch this summer. 

Pankaj was helped by two brilliant catches from Malith, a man not known for his fielding prowess and referred to in some circles as “the sloth”. Malith’s first catch, courtesy of a flat batted swat from Karthik (5 from 10) showed his flexibility as he reached high over his head. Malith made good ground to take the next catch diving at midwicket. Despite the sloth only using an absolute minimum of movement, he put some of his more athletic contemporaries to shame.   

Strikers stuttered towards 111 for eight from their twenty overs, a target that OCC were confident they could chase down in short order. There was definitely room for improvement in the field as a few catches hit the ground, and a few too many extras were given away (18 wides). Full credit to the OCC bowlers though, not least as they all actually made an effort to bowl every ball at their opposition. 

Strikers never really threatened the OCC opening pair of Will Cope and Ed Packard. After a long winter, Cope soon found the middle of his bat and then went through the gears as he does with some proper super strikes. The Strikers had no answer for Cope’s firepower and Packard quietly picked off singles and ran hard as the pair put on 103 for the first wicket; not their first 100 run partnership and unlikely to be their last. 

 Packard was bowled by Rakshit. This was the only wicket that OCC suffered and the game was won quickly after with Embleton joining Cope to ensure an comprehensive win!