| Platypus
Cup - Independents XI versus Clubs XI at KCC, 17th September 2000
THE
INAUGURAL EVENT
The
match was arranged between a side representing the independent clubs,
who have recently organised themselves into a properly constituted unit
for better management and communication with the HKCA, and a side representing
the HKCC and the KCC.
On
the morning of the Platypus Cup game I arrived early at KCC. It is good
to eat breakfast, soaking up the big match atmosphere as players and officials
arrive. By the time I had finished my food, the Independents team were
all changed and well into their routine of group stretches and warm ups.
One couldn't help thinking that they meant business.
SADA
WINS THE TOSS AND DECIDES TO BAT
Ilyas
Gul and Martine Sabine opened the batting against the Clubs' attack of
Adrian Baker and Sher Lama. They made a cautious but confident start against
some brisk but often wayward bowling from Baker who was able to get a
fair amount of lift from a pitch that promised to be true if a little
slow. Lama dropped into line and length, his practice for the Hong Kong
Squad showing.
After
bowling three overs for 17, with the score on 24, Baker gave way to Adrian
Ashman who made the batsmen work harder as he probed for a breakthrough.
However, the Independents pair were up to the task and, although he looked
the bowler most likely to take a wicket, Ashman was denied, at least for
the time being, and he took a rest having bowled four good overs for 20.
GUL
AND SABINE DIG IN
Ravi
Sujanani took over from Lama and bowled a tidy spell, also of four overs
for 20, that prevented the batsmen from surging ahead. Ravi has always
been a good containing bowler at representative level. I remember a tidy
spell against the India U19's just as they were going for the slog, and
another in Singapore just before lunch when he bowled three maidens and
completely dried up Bangladesh's quest for runs. Still, Gul and Sabine
pressed on relentlessly, despatching anything loose, accumulating chanceless
runs and the score grew.
Sharma
used his bowlers in short spells on a morning that was uncomfortably hot
and humid after the spell of good weather we had during the week. Lama
came off after six good overs for only 14 runs, having given away no extras.
At this point the sore was 47 off twelve. Martin Lever bowled the medium
pacers that he bowls these days, also to good effect, holding back the
score but not looking likely to take a wicket. Drinks were taken with
Gul on 34 and Sabine on 30 out of a total of 71. Interestingly Sabine
had faced 26 of Lama's 36 balls.
SHARMA
SWITCHES TO SPIN
Adam
Smith was introduced into the attack in the twentieth over and dropped
straight into the groove to bowl an economical spell. The next over Gul
reached his 50 ( off 65 balls) with the only four off Lever's spell of
five overs for 20. But everyone was waiting for the maestro and after
24 overs with the score on 102, Rahul Sharma brought himself on from the
club house end.
SABINE
MOVES INTO ATTACK MODE
Gul
and Sabine took this in their stride. As he neared 50, Sabine started
to look a little weary and switched to all out attack. It had taken him
75 balls to score 37, but he now took fours off successive overs from
Smith and moved rapidly to 78, scoring the 41 runs to do so off 24 balls.
Rahul
had gone for 22 off his first three before he swapped ends with Smith.
Adrian Ashman copped the change over which went for 13 runs, eleven of
them to Sabine.
THE
END OF A SUPERB KNOCK
Martin's
tactics were not slogging, but a measured approach picking the ball and
the shot. But tiredness told in the end and he was out in the 32nd over
for 78 with the score on 164, caught by the 'keeper, Amit Agarwal, off
Sharma's bowling. He had scored his runs off 99 balls and received a great
ovation for a sterling effort. Martin has been very consistent and a bit
of an unsung hero for Hong Kong over the years and has made some useful
runs against good sides, including Kenya, at times when the "stars"
have found the going difficult.
DAR
KEEPS THE PRESSURE ON
Tabarak
Dar had had the pads on for almost two hours and he took his time to settle
in, scoring his first 8 runs off 28 balls. Then he explosively scored
his next 40 off only 22 balls hitting some powerful shots that had his
team-mates on their feet. He scored a brisk 48 before Ashman conned him
with a slow full toss that Dar cross-batted to the safe hands of Baker,
lurking down by the sightscreen at long off.
SALIM
FLAYS THE BOWLING, GUL NOT OUT 137
Salim
Malik came to partner Gul and these two took the total to 311 for 2 off
the 50 overs. Gul was 137 not out off 141 balls and Malik 26 not out off
10 balls. The last 10 overs of the innings had seen the score move on
by exactly 100 runs.
THE
CLUBS INNINGS-SHARMA AND EAMES SET ABOUT THEIR TASK
If
we had enjoyed the Independents batting we were given a real treat in
the afternoon. Rahul Sharma and Mark Eames opened the innings for the
Clubs and set methodically about their task of chasing an impressive total.
THE
OPENING SALVOES
Sada
Hussain, the Independent's skipper opened the bowling with Mohammed Zubair
and Khalid Khan. Zubair appeared to be carrying a bit of off-season weight
and was not his usual penetrative self, but we should not take anything
away from the batsmen who both seemed to have plenty of time to play.
Khan was a different matter. He came briskly in and delivered the ball
straight and from his maximum height. Only 24 runs came off the bat in
his first spell of 6 overs. If only he had not bowled so many no balls
and wides, which cost him 15 runs, it would have been an impressive start.
Surely this no ball thing is something he needs to work on. Zubair was
also bowling wides and these cost him 7 of the 14 runs he gave in his
initial spell of 4 overs.
GHOAR
AND TARR TAKE OVER
Ghoar
Khan took over from Zubair and also delivered the ball well from a good
height. He was much more on line and went for only 15 off his 4 over spell.
If he can keep this up he is in for a good season.
At
the other end Brad Tarr had a short spell but each batsmen helped himself
to a couple of fours of his three overs for 21. It looked as if Brad needed
more match practice at this early stage of the season. Sharma and Eames
ploughed on. Brad did have a good day in the field however. A good team
man, looking after his team's batsmen during their long stand.
THE
INTRODUCTION OF SPIN
Jawaid
Iqbal came on just before the drinks break and bowled superbly. He was
to end up with two for 40, an excellent performance in a high-scoring
match.
Drinks
were taken with the score on 76 off 17, five runs ahead of the Independents
score at the same stage. With both batsmen well set Khalid was brought
back, but continued to bowl waywardly, his second over of 9 balls going
for eleven.
Salim
Malik came on, but he too came in for punishment going for 19 off two
overs.
SADA'
DECIDES ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Sada's
response to this was to bring on Gohar and to have a go himself from the
other end. Sada is one of those captains who is always prepared to take
on responsibility during a tough period.. His first over went for 15 runs
and the next from Gohar saw another 14 added to the score. But Sada kept
at it and only went for 5 in his next over while Zubair, who had relieved
Ghoar, also received some stick, conceding 11 runs in his comeback over.
THE
BREAKTHROUGH - THE END OF THE BEGINNING
In
Sada's next, Mark Eames lifted the fourth ball over extra cover but Ghoar
Khan, running backwards and to his right, reached up and somehow managed
to pluck the ball out of the air. It needed a superb effort like that
to break the partnership of 183 runs in 30.4 overs This must rate as one
of those classic stands. Rahul was his imperious self and Mark Eames showed
us that he has more shots in his repertoire than we had previously thought;
punching solid powerful blows all around the ground and capping the show
with a delightful sweep to fine leg. He scored his 73 runs off only 84
balls. I have witnessed some beautiful innings from Mark, many of them
longer and with higher scores, but this was the best I had seen him bat.
Lal Jayasinghe the coaching manager of the Hong Kong squad must have been
pleased indeed. At one stage it had looked as if he and Rahul would win
the match on their own.
ZUBAIR
CARRIES ON THE GOOD WORK
129
to win off 19.2 overs with Rahul looking well set seemed well within the
reach of the batting side. The batsmen had crossed and Rahul took a run
off the next ball to face Zubair in the next over. Zubair had decided
to bowl off a short run to minimise effort and to increase his accuracy
Rahul took a single off his second ball and Adam Smith who had sat with
the pads on for two and a quarter hours was comprehensively bowled by
the next, a fast yorker. Not a ball you want to receive when you have
just come to the wicket.
DISASTER
FOR SADA
Ravi
Sujanani came in next and despatched the first ball he received from Zubair
to the boundary for four. During the next over, Ravi smashed the fifth
ball back at Sada and split the webbing between Sada's thumb and forefinger.
Sada had to go off to hospital for stitches. The umpires brought the players
off for drinks with the score on 190 for 2 off 33.5, 121 behind.
THE
BEGINNING OF THE END
Ilyas
Gul completed Sada's unfinished over. People were beginning to wonder
how the Independents would fare without their captain who had done such
a good job in keeping the in-form batsmen relatively within check, but
Tabarak Dar, the vice-captain of the Independents side immediately brought
back Khalid Khan with devastating results. The drinks break has always
been the best wicket taker in my experience and again this proved to be
the case. Khalid, like Zubair had done, was now bowling yorkers off his
short run and he had Rahul caught by 'keeper Nasir Hameed off his third
ball; just a faint nick.
THE
COLLAPSE - BAD LUCK FOR MARTIN LEVER - A SPECTACULAR CATCH BY NASIR
Martin
Lever came in to join Ravi. Jawaid bowled a maiden and then Khalid tempted
Martin to drive at a ball that started well outside his off stump and
left him. This was a justified shot as there were no slips but Nasir took
the most acrobatic of catches full length infront of where second slip
would have been. Martin can count himself to be very unlucky. The very
next ball saw Mohanna Marzook plumb lbw. Jawaid trapped Ravi in the same
fashion in the next over and the Clubs had slumped unbelievably from 183
for no wicket to 204 for 6 in the space of just four overs and one ball.
What a turn around!
THE
CONCLUSION
The
rest was a foregone conclusion. Sher Lama and John Powell scored 13 not
out and 14, respectively. Powel was bowled by Jawaid and Salim Malik had
Adrian Ashman caught at mid wicket by Zubair, a skier, before Zubair himself
mopped up by bowling Adrian Baker and Amit Agarwal with successive balls
in the 44th over. Khalid finished with 3 for 43 and Zubair 3 for 47.
10
wickets had fallen for 58 runs in the last 12.5 overs, after only two
wickets for 494 runs at the start. A remarkable turnaround indeed and
one that Sada Hussain could hardly believe on his return from hospital.
HIGHLIGHTS
And
so a fine day's cricket came to an end. The high points were the batting
of Gul, Sabine, Eames and Sharma, a fine opening spell from Lama, the
best catches you will ever see from Ghoar and Nasir, an excellent spell
of 2 for 40 by Jawaid Iqbal and fine controlled demolition work by Khalid
Khan and Mohammed Zubair. A good al-round team performance and a top win
for the Independents.
Thanks
to KCC for their hospitality and in particular to the groundstaff for
the pitch preparation; a good track so early in the season. Thanks also
to umpires Mike Walsh and Bob Fotheringham and to scorer Kim who keeps
a very neat book!
If
next year's game is half as good it will be well worthwhile. I'll be there,
in time for breakfast.
Report
by Peter Slack, former Chairman, now a vice-president of HKCA. Peter was
a selector along with Tony Turner and Sada Hussain for the Independents
and was team manager of Independents side for the Platypus Cup match.
At
KCC: Independents XI 311-2 (I Gul 137*, M Sabine 78, T Dar 48) beat Clubs
XI 241 (R Sharma 90, M Eames 73; M Zubair 3-47, K Khan 3-43) by 70 runs.
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