Royal Tigers won by 4 wickets

Royal Tigers came away from Godollo with a bonus point to maintain their strong challenge for top spot in the Premier League after a game notable for its friendliness on both sides and some unfortunate sun-burn. It was a fairly tough game to arrange for both captains, with many squad players unavailable and some dropping out at the last minute but special mention must go to Pip Gamble of the Baggy Blues who stepped bleary-eyed off a night train from Split straight onto the HEV to Godollo and right into the match. The spectacle of his bowling was perhaps overshadowed by the spectacle of his new DIY haircut. The police have been alerted.

The coin had to be tossed four times until it came down flat on the ground, what with the grass on the wicket standing much longer (and damper) than the skippers would have hoped for. Tushar called tails. It came down heads and Chris did not hesitate to elect to bat. An easy decision since three of his team were yet to arrive.

Despite the sluggish surface turning many twos into ones and with the ball jumping up off a good length now and again, the Baggies 2nd XI openers Eddie Allnutt and holidaying guest batsman Mayur blocked out the menacing balls and started scoring runs cautiously. Suman bowled a tight line and Lucky, coming in off a deceptively short run-up, peppered the Blues with balls which were not easy to score off. Two wickets fell in close succession before Eddie was joined in the middle by Martin East whose sensible batting helped put on 28 for the third wicket before some good hands in the field saw the Tigers take three excellent catches. Lucky was very economical from the Javelin End, although he failed to get arch-nemesis Allnutt out, and Tushar’s slow tempters did all the tempting they needed to, his three wickets accounting for batsmen who must have seen ‘boundary’ written all over the ball, and credit to him for his guile.

Mahesh, the King of Godollo, strode proudly out onto ‘his’ wicket, then proceeded to show the other Baggies what the meat of the bat is really for, before falling for a quick-fire 17. The Baggies’ tail did not wag at all and those who get around to viewing the scorecard for this game will see that Extras was by far the top Blues scorer. Whether Chris or Tushar is the more troubled by that is a moot point. Arguably, the Tigers’ best bowler was Dinesh, whose three for 17 included the wickets of the Baggies’ two most dangerous batsmen off pacy deliveries.

So, was the nasty Nelson, 111, defendable?

The Baggies 2nd XI trotted out to field believing that it just might be if they could remove the danger men of the Tigers’ top order cheaply and within only seven overs they perhaps started to sense an upset with the opposition on 30 odd for 3, with Sameer, Parry and the powerful Tushar already back in the pavilion. Visiting bowler Lewis Glover, proving here that the Baggies may never be restricted to one dodgy haircut, soon got the bit between his teeth and his four wickets off five overs was well deserved and credit to Mahesh Singh who bowled with gusto; some of his deliveries swinging late, the Tigers finding it impossible to score off the majority of them. But cometh the hour, cometh the Lucky Singh, who then allowed Marc to anchor the innings from the other end while he gleefully set about dispatching the regularly wayward bowling to the square-leg boundary, one impressive 6 soaring over the crumbling soccer grandstand into the rough land beyond.

Those two put on 48 for the fourth wicket before Lucky was caught behind attempting another big shot but the damage had been done and the game had swung away from the BB2s by then. However, the finishing post soon came into view and it was now a question of who would score the winning runs and whether or not the bonus point could be won. The honour fell to Marc, whose sweetly timed slog over mid-wicket, with the fielders all in close, rounded the game off and wrapped up that bonus point leaving the BB2s without a win this season and surely ending their hopes of reaching the play-offs.

Man of the Match: Lucky Singh