On a scorching Saturday afternoon KCC found themselves felding in sweltering heat after loosing the toss twice to captains of two different teams. But that's the only thing our Skipper lost that day. The 3s started a new or rekindled an old tradition of starting the game with a group huddle.
Knowing the conditions well and using the home advantage of knowing what goes for a boundary, Shipton started quite briskly. The parched outfield and the short boundaries made anything you touch or miss go to the fence. The KCC heads did not drop when the oppo was using the pace of our opening bowlers to score a bit freely. With 17 scored off the first two overs, the opening batters looked quite comfortable. But Ran and Shiv had another gear and came back strongly with two back to back maidens. But with short boundaries behind the wicket on both sides and on the drive the Shipton openers exploited their knowledge of the home conditions. By the end of the 11 overs they were 57 for no loss and looked at ease. Just before the KCC players made their mind up to get ready for a long day of leather hunt, the Captain put himself in the fireing line by bringing himself to bowl. A few tight deliveries later the opener Disbury missed one that stayed low and got bowled only for the leg umpire to suggest to the main umpire that the second bounce was outside the crease , which was the case but still behind the bat since the batsman moved forward. Not out and No Ball! The breakthrough was just a mirage. Disappointed we trodded back to our feilding positions and against the run of play Shan produced a delivery that turned into the batsman like many a flying wasps which were on the felid and knocked the bails off. KCC rejoiced with the woods echoing "How many time did that bounce then". That brought their best player to the crease. Charlie Aster took upon himself to counter attack with occasional big hits to the fence. With experienced Disbury on the other end, Shipton soon reached 110 for 1 wicket in 19 overs. Big hearted Shiv Singh was replaced by Baiju on the other end. The the batters still looking confident, it was a controlled and tight few over by the two spinners who bolwed beautifully in tandem. Shan trapped Disbury leg before just when things seemed slipping away again, and a few tight overs later Baiju trapped Big hitting Charlie Aster. That was the wicket KCC was waiting for. Smelling blood the two spinners further slowed down the pace making the batters do mistakes triggering a superb collapse. They were waltzing their way through the overs challenging each other on who reaches 5 wickets first. Both ended with 5 wickets. Keeper Nadeem made sure he stopped every thing that was missed and conceded only 8 byes on a LEGO play ground where the oppo had 22 byes to give an idea. Olli was the boundry rider stopping everything coming his way. Ran and Raz did not let anything go through the off side. Shiv and Abbas were tight in the felid like a champagne Cork. KCC closed in with feild, the 30 yard boundaries soon seemed 300 yards. Shipton from 24 overs 124 from 3 wickets were bowled out for 149 in 34 overs.
The response started steady with the pacers Charlie Astor and Finley bowling at a lively pace and bounce it was a battle our openers had to deal with. They took a few body blows before RAZBALL set in. Balls vanished into the Wychwood forest regularly with Shiv holding anchor at one end. KCC were 54 for no loss in 7 overs. Raz and Shiv had pyros in their hands with all those runs coming in 4s and 6s. Seven overs and not a single run. When Raz was out, Akashdeep went in to bat, and it looked like Yohan Blake passing the baton to Usain Bolt. Akashdeep drilled into the Shipton attack with a brisk 56. Beautiful , elegant batting, cutting, driving, and guiding the balls to the boundry. When he was out, KCC were 125 in 18 overs. In went the Cool Abbas. With James steady on the other end, any hope of a come back by Shipton was nonchalantly buried by classy Abbas who finished on 21 not out. By the 24th overs, it was Game, Set and Match for KCC 3s. A happy huddle that followed showed how this 3s team is amalgamated and enjoying their cricket. They played like a champion team who supported each other when the chips were down. Only 8 singles in 152 scored by KCC 3s. It is an absolute honour to say
I WAS THERE.
A Big shout and thanks to SR. Willmont who umpired for us while we were batting in that heat.
Top of the league!!!!