Short Form, Long Day

Two weeks after our home double-header against the Coimbra Knights and Miranda Dragons, we made the journey down to Miranda do Corvo for the return fixtures, a twelve-player squad travelling with some confidence after the dominant performances at OCLTC. As ever, we were welcomed well to the converted football ground and, as ever, there was an element of chaos about things down there.

They seemed to have felt it unnecessary to have a scorer, or to know who was playing for which side, or to remember that players can only play for the side with which they were registered, but once these matters were resolved, after a fashion, the first game – against the Dragons – began. The ‘resolution’ of the scoring issue was through Premal having to play and score on his mobile at the same time which made things interesting for him as well as slowing down what turned out to be surely one of the slowest T20 games on record. So slow was it that back in Porto at least one person thought that the CricHeroes app must have gone down by mid-afternoon.

Anyway: the match. Having won the toss, we opted to field and Dragons were held in check for the first couple of overs before building a strong start. Extras were making a significant contribution, the fourth over taking twelve deliveries to complete, but the breakthrough came in the seventh over, the batter bowled by Umar. He got the second in the ninth, a classic T20 dismissal – caught at third man – and at the end of the over they were on 64/2. Things ebbed and flowed, flowed a bit too much for the batters at times, over the next few overs including a memorable one in which Umar took a hattrick, one part of which was a questionable lbw decision that prompted a monster, bat-hurling, paddy on the part of the player given out. In the end, our bowling collectively being less tight than we might have hoped, Dragons finished on 157/7, more than we would have liked, but clearly gettable.

Whilst the Coimbra management firmly discussed the ins and outs of player behaviour with some of the Dragons players, and others decided that the innings break in a delayed game would be the ideal opportunity to take lunch, we sorted our batting line-up and took to the field with Sanha and Anthony opening. Literally. The two of them had to walk out to an empty wicket to encourage the opposition to join them.

Dragons only had ten players, which became reduced to nine at some point I did not notice by the removal of their bat-thrower, made to sit on the naughty step. Batting against reduced numbers – how could we fail? A thirteen-delivery opening over going for fifteen runs suggested we would not, except that on the thirteenth Sabha was out for lbw. We struggled to get going, Anthony, John and Premal (the latter disappointingly not competing his multi-tasking masterclass by also scoring whilst batting) all going cheaply during the powerplay, soon followed by Umar. 43/5 after seven overs was not quite the plan, making the paucity of fielders something of an irrelevance. Those who were on the pitch seemed particularly enthusiastic about appealing, for anything that happened, balls striking pads, balls hit down the leg side, the waft of a fluffy cloud above the distant hilltops, hoping perhaps for another random outcome from umpire Barry (to be fair, it could happen; as one of the Knights said, you don’t get bias with Barry, just mayhem). Preet, ably supported by Kazim, then made the chase, taking it into the last over before just running out of time, Kaz run out for 26 and Preet not out on 69. It was an excellent effort but we were left with a feeling of what if…

Having had lunch at the more appropriate time of the lunch interval, we took on the Knights and were quickly on the front foot with a run-out in the first over triggered by Nuno (in for Premal) and Moin’s teamwork in the field. By the end of the powerplay the score was 33/1, after ten it was 63/3 and when Kumar was brought on to take the fourth wicket it was just 87/4 with fifteen overs completed. By the end of the innings, Knights had struggled to 116/7 which was much more like it.

The run-chase began quickly, as we realised was needed given that the two sides from the same club had not played each other yet in the competition meaning that two good wins by Dragons would ensure their progress ahead of us. After three overs we were on 38, however the quick wickets of Sabha, John and Anthony pulled us back to 54/3 at the end of the powerplay. Steadily we picked up the pace, although Umar was out for 17 in the tenth over. From there it was relatively plain as we chased down the total by the end of the fourteenth over, finishing on 119/4, the final runs achieved with an unfortunate mis-field on the square-leg boundary.

By the end, to be honest, I think we were all just glad to get going. Barry, Nina and the Knights regulars were as welcoming as ever, and I always admire what they have done with that little ground, so unexpected in the middle of the country, however we won’t miss the strip that can see a spinner produce a wild bouncer one moment before a short ball skids along the ground the next, or the rough, bumpy outfield. Or the perpetual sense of being on the verge of random chaos, endearing as it might be for a minute or two. It will be nice also not to have mis-fields cheered or bats thrown and to welcome the new batter to the middle.

Well done to everyone who made the trip. We wait to see what transpires between Knights and Dragons to determine our future in this year’s competition.