Play Misty for Me/Thrillers in the Mist
09/10/2021
PWCC v Coimbra Knights
With the national semis on the horizon, the club played host to a rare October fixture, with a double header against Coimbra. Fitting two T-20s into one day as the light in the afternoon is fading ever earlier meant that Premal needed to stress in his email that there would be a prompt 11 am start.
Play began at 11.30am. Sabha and John got us off to a good start with a 53-run partnership in seven overs before Anthony and I restored the balance by giving the Knights a bit of routine catching practice, leaving us 55-3. Premal showed plenty of intent with a rapid 19 before he was caught by Abhishek (fielding for the oppo and taking his second annoyingly decent catch after getting rid of John (27) earlier), and the Porto collapse was on. Obviously concerned about finishing the second match in the dark, the team duly succumbed for 111 runs in just 16.3 overs. Special mention must go to Nuno for finishing things off in spectacular fashion and without even facing a ball, marvellously running almost into Abhi’s arms off a dot ball like a wound-up clockwork toy released by an eager child.
Clearly it was a tough ask, but PWCC has a tough core and, focused from the start of Knights’ innings, we fielded well and bowled tightly, putting them under pressure and keeping composure when their numbers two and three seemed settled and scoring runs. Sadly, there were few moments of stupidity to report, although it did not go unnoticed by some that Neil, chief prompter to ‘get the ball straight back to the bowler; let’s get through the overs’ when himself bowling, seemed intent on applying slow and prolonged love to the ball when the seamers were on, leaving umpires and players looking around to what the delay was. Knights seemed less concerned about the time than our batsmen had, playing out their twenty overs for a largely whimper-free 72-7. Mubeen with three wickets for eleven runs had the pick of the bowling figures, but they all impressed.
Lunch was taken a little later than intended with the result of delaying the three o’clock promised start of the second game, and the second and unlikely result of enabling Sanath to be ready to play on time. Batting first once again, we again made a solid start before Sanath and Anthony fell in quick succession leaving us at 57-3. From there, progress was steady if not spectacular until Junaid added a nine-ball twenty-five and Mubeen a ten-ball twenty-two (n.o.), ably supported by Raghu (17 n.o.), taking us to a respectable 156-6. As a side feature, Neil, guesting for the Knights, managed to gee up both batters and fielders in an impressive post-lunch diplomatic effort. My batting heroics in the first game had earned me a place at the scoring table with a large glass of red wine.
Two early wickets and a slow start to Knights’ reply put us on top initially before Amit and Andrew Winter steadied things for them and then began to accelerate. With sea mist beginning to swirl across the field there were a few looser moments in the field, most comic probably being John moving in for a high catch, losing it completely in the fog and clasping his hands over his head in protection against a ball that landed about twenty yards from him. Similarly comical was the failure to give Andrew out after a run out, despite the fact that he had passed the square leg umpire trotting back to his team evidently in no doubt himself. We’ll put that down to the fog, too, I think. Perhaps we could blame it for Mubeen’s later drop. Andrew, on 43, was duly grateful, grinning and thanking us ‘for all the love’. Hubristically, he edged the very next ball of Abhi’s to gully as was on his way. In the gloom, he had had little support from his team and four run-outs (that were given) told a story in themselves, the last one coming when captain Chris fell in a mix-up with last man, Neil.
Later, as the beers started to flow, Sanath was formally presented with his PWCC cap, suitably later than everyone else, of course, but equally important.
So, it was another successful day for PWCC. At some point, our 100% win record will fall, but not just yet, and the battling qualities and focus in the field, even when rustiness as a batting unit has restricted us at times, astutely harnessed by Prem’s captaincy, continues to serve us well. The semi-final in Cartaxo beckons, so let’s see what happens. Presumably everyone will be able to see a bit better than they were at six o’clock yesterday.
