The heady aroma of freshly cut grass, coupled with ominous summer storm clouds was the backdrop for the penultimate group stage match for the Optimists 2nd XI, against the dangerous Heritage 1st XI.
Confidence was high, as OCC2 were currently riding high in the table – 3rd place, with two wins, a loss, and an abandonment as the outcome for the busy start to the league season.
All-round humble gentleman, and exemplar of the hairless head, Ben Mcilroy was unable to captain the 2nd XI as he was still recovering from a hamstring injury picked up against the MCC – so the captain from the 2025 season, Andries “built like a buffalo” Venter returned to skipper the side.
Winning the toss, and electing to bat first, the instructions were clear – get after them, put them under pressure. The target had been set – score 50 without loss in the powerplay, get to 90 by the end of 10.
Opening the batting for OCC were the same pair who last season scored 97 combined runs against the same opposition, Yama Abdiani and Aman Khan.
This season it would not to go so well – with Aman being caught for 1 off the bowling of the wily BCF opener Raju Akulwar.
Yama was joined at the crease by club veteran campaigner, chief groundsman, and all-round scoundrel top gentleman, Will Heath. They would take the game to Heritage, but not without some tragedy.
A confused pair of calls and in a flash, Yama was the one who was run out – leaving the crease after a promising 21 runs from 14 balls.
The Big Dawg had to settle in – the score targets were still there and the skipper was demanding!
At the end of the powerplay, OCC were in the game – 54/2.
The match was hit by a fierce summer storm, with thunder, lightning, high winds, a ferocious downpour and some hefty hailstones, just to keep things interesting.
The match would be reduced in overs, it would now be 17 per side.
Heath joined forces with Ravi Kondaparthi, a stalwart batter for the team this season, they combined for 30 runs, before Ravi was out LBW (10 runs off 8 balls), by Gaurav Singh (on a personal note, it is good to see Gaurav back playing regular cricket after disrupted seasons with a knee surgery – welcome back).
Heath remained, this time joined by 2nd team indoor captain, Shoaib Mohammad. They added another 31 runs, before Shoaib was bowled (11 runs off 15 balls) by national team veteran and Heritage captain, Vikram Vijh.
Still Heath remained – it seemed he wanted to grow roots in his beloved pitch!
Now he was joined by Awais Nisar and the young all-rounder wasted no time in getting to work – taking the fight to the Heritage bowlers, he would finish on an unbeaten 27 from 18 balls.
Heath finally fell victim to Vikram, being bowled for 40 off 29 balls – he left the crease with frustration, knowing that there were more runs out there for the taking.
The overs had started to tick away from OCC and with the final ball it was clear we had squandered a good start – some crafty bowling from the Heritage spinners, and some bemusing shot selection from the OCC batters had shackled the runs and after another quick wicket, this time junior squad member, Luca Rawle (5 runs off 11 balls), the final total for the first innings was 139 runs for 6 wickets from 17 overs. Incidentally, this was almost the same run rate we had scored last season against the same opponents.
The target was set, the bowlers went through their warm-ups and the instructions were clear – look alive in the field – keep the bowling tight – put them under pressure and see if they can take the game from us.
Things did not start well – with 37 runs coming in the first 4 overs. Slippery conditions, combined with poor choices in footwear meant the bowlers learned a valuable lesson – preparation is key and it is important to have some grip on your shoes – the Heritage batters offered no respite, latching onto anything short (of which there was a fair amount) and putting the bad balls away.
Jalal Tariq offered some glimmers of hope with the wickets of the always dangerous Asgar Ali (excellent catch running in from the boundary by Aman Khan), and an impressive caught and bowled of Girish Venkateswaran (who had been punishing the bowlers with 35 runs off 20 balls).
However, OCC just could not stop the runs from flowing, helped no doubt by the steady flow of extras (23, in 12.4 overs, the most we have given up in such a short amount of time – something for all the bowlers, the author included, to work on for the rest of the season) and some (more) dropped catches.
Heritage were able to score the runs at a bit of a canter, bringing up 144 runs to win, for just the two wickets lost, in 12.4 overs.
Amit Halbhavi (32 runs off 21 balls) and Vivek Dixit (42 runs off 28 balls) showing the strength in depth of their batting unit.
A disappointing end to the match, and leaving the team right on the edge of the playoff battle.
1 game to go, currently 4th in the table, but only the game versus the OCC 1st XI to come.
Hopefully, the team can reflect on the things done well, but more importantly ask “what can I do better?” – more intensity in the field, more clarity when running between the wickets, more discipline when bowling. Let’s move on from this one, but let’s be better for the next.
Please come and join us for the 1s vs 2vs final group stage game for the season before the playoffs – 11 July – don’t miss out!