Royal Tigers won by 97 runs

Tigers pounce on Kangaroos
The third season of the Hungarian Cricket League got underway on May Day 2009, as the back-to-back champions Royal Tigers faced off against the fully Hungarian outfit, Danubian Kangaroos, who finished 5th last year. The match between the teams was washed out in 2008, so there was an air of novelty at the RAFC ground.

The Tigers elected to bat looking to mount a huge total on the faultless pitch, with not a cloud in sight to assist the bowlers. Opening bowler and batsmen Amandeep Singh partnered up with newcomer Marc Ahuja to set the tone with a lightning partnership. There was no rest for the Kangaroos once Tushar Gandhi joined Amandeep at the crease. The Tigers pair were extremely severe on anything full or short, whilst also picking up singles off good
deliveries. Tushar was dropped twice in one over by captain Gabor Torok and Janos Matyasfalvi, two players who should have known better, but his performance was majestic in any case. Amandeep finally departed for a classy 36, but Tushar continued with keeper Sameer Khan. The Tigers captain was brilliantly run out by Gabor Nadudvari’s direct hit, but his magnificient 55 ensured the Kangaroos were hopping into nomansland.

The Tiger torture –which made the Kangaroos feel like they were in a jungle due to the surprisingly high temperature, the spring Hungarian sunshine and the lost balls being sought for whilst delving into the high plants inside and outside the ground – was prolonged with shocking dropped catches from virtually all the Kangaroos team, including all the three Toroks and usually safe Kangas such as Nagy and Bartok, who had taken a screamer against Comenius a fortnight beforehand. Once Sameer Khan left after compiling 24, the sharpness of the Tiger’s teeth waned and the team was bowled out for 228, after being on 3/197. The pick of the bowlers was Gabor Torok with 3/21 off 6 overs, but every bowler was robbed off better figures by their fielders.

The game was as good as over after the Kangaroos top four departed for virtually nothing. Suman, Amandeep and Vasu conceded very little – except for a big over conjured by David Torok – while picking off the top-order. When Agoston was bowled for 9 by Vasu, the Kangas were reeling at 6/46. The 182 runs to get off 19 overs with 4 wickets in hand didn’t bother Tamas Torok (who had an unusually expensive day with the ball) too much, as he
slapped the Tigers attack to all parts of the ground, with exquisite trademark sixes from the Dog Kennel end, giving the Tigers the only scare of the game as the dog actually appeared from his kennel for the first time all day, while the champions were looking for their lost ball.

The fireworks were stopped by Lucky Singh bowling Top Gun Tamas for 33. The Kangaroos lower order showed fight to avoid leaking the bonus point, pushing the team tally to 131. All the Tigers bowled well; Vasu was the leading wicket-taker with 3/27. So the Tigers gave the Kangaroos a lesson in cricket, but the fact that they missed the bonus point showed that the third season of the Hungarian Cricket League, especially the Premier Division, has plenty of excitement and surprises to offer.

Man of the Match: Tushar Gandhi