Edinburgh South Cricket Club

Week five report

Week five saw Fire playing two games against Originals and Superchargers, hoping to get back to winning ways, and Spirit aiming to continue their winning streak against bottom-of-the-table Rockets, who were hoping to build on their win the previous week.

Game one: Fire v Originals

Fire won the toss and elected to bat. The Walker brothers started brightly, with quick running that put pressure on the fielders, but a fantastic one-handed catch by Dan off his own bowling slowed the rate. Despite the setback, they kept running well and scored steadily, finishing on 20 after losing three wickets. The next pair had a decent start, adding six in the first over, but good fielding produced two run-outs in the sixth over, and at halfway the score was 22/5. The next two overs brought three more wickets as well as a straight six for Shaman and a no-ball to Kesh that resulted in seven, and the pair finished at 24/8. The final pair were shackled by good bowling, including a last-over maiden by Ankur; clever spin from Dan, which brought two wickets; and tight work from Asanka and Richard, who took a wicket apiece. Fire ended on 16 for the loss of twelve wickets.

Originals had a slow start and were -1 after two overs following good bowling by Cammie and Gordon. However, Gordon B and Dan recovered to add 17 without further loss, leaving the score 16/1 after four overs. The second Originals pair built steadily despite a good catch by Aaron off Gordon’s bowling. Three fours by Asanka, plus a last-ball shot for nine (no-ball plus a six), saw the second pair finish at 43/2, leaving Fire with the tall order of taking six wickets to regain the lead. The ninth over went for 16, including a six for Ankur, and any slim chance of a Fire win disappeared. Two more sixes from Ankur, supported by intelligent batting from Richard, saw the last pair put on a record 60-run partnership, taking the total to 103/2. Originals won by 87 runs.

Points: Originals 24, Fire 4

Game two: Fire v Superchargers

Fire were looking to bounce back from their heavy loss to Originals, and Superchargers were looking to keep the pressure on Spirit. Superchargers elected to bat after winning the toss. The first pair started badly, with Shaman taking a catch off the first ball from Cammie to dismiss Rod. There was some good hitting by Prab, including two fours, for his best batting score of 22, and a six from Rod, so the pair finished on 25/2. The next pair batted cautiously, putting on 14 for the loss of one wicket, which meant the score was 39/3 after eight overs. The last pair started fast, adding 22 in their first two overs, before a good over from Cammie pegged the rate, even though Srini hit a six. Then came a crazy last over: the score started at 63 and ended at 63, with three wickets, two fours and a five for Ankur in between. Superchargers finished on 63/8, a good score but gettable.

Fire had a terrible start, with four wickets falling in the first three overs and, despite a six from Sid, the pair finished on -1/4. The Walker brothers were in next and continued from the previous game with quick running that pressured the fielders. A strong seventh over brought 14, and a further eight from the eighth over made it 37/6. The game was evenly balanced, as Superchargers were on 39 at the same stage. But disaster struck with a double-wicket maiden by Ankur in over nine, and from that point Fire were up against it. Tight bowling from Ankur and Srini, including another wild last over that saw three wickets fall, meant Fire finished on 15/12. Superchargers won by 48 runs.

Points: Superchargers 24, Fire 7

Game three: Rockets v Spirit

Rockets won the toss and elected to bat. The first pair started well, putting on 16 in the first two overs, but the third over from Matty saw two wickets fall as well as a six for Phil B, before a flourish in the fourth over added 14, including a six for Dharmesh. The pair ended on 31/2. The next pair began cautiously, adding 11 without loss in their first two overs, but overs seven and eight featured aggressive shots from Kasun and Gus and good bowling by Eddy and Sabir, producing 29 and three wickets; the pair finished at 56/6. The last pair had a great ninth over with 17 scored, including a six for Asanka and a five for Kav, but overs ten and 11 were much better for Spirit and only five more were added for the loss of a wicket. Strong hitting from Asanka in the final over, with two fours, took the total to 92/7.

Spirit started well, with Matty and Mo adding 19 in the first two overs before being pegged back by Gus and Kasun; only four more came in their last two overs, so they finished at 20/2. The next pair had tricky overs five and six, losing two wickets, and the halfway score was 17/4. Ed and Eddy recovered somewhat to add nine without further loss, making it 26/4 after eight overs. That left a very challenging target for the last pair, who would have needed a record partnership to win at over three a ball. They began well, with sensible batting by both Ansh and Sabir, but wickets in overs nine and ten left them needing 54 from the last two, an impossible task as it proved. 11 more and one wicket in the final two overs left Spirit on 50/7. Rockets won by 42 runs.

Points: Rockets 24, Spirit 7

League table

Batters of the week

• Ankur 35
• Gordon W 22
• Prab 22
• Richard 22

Bowlers of the week

• Ankur 3-9
• Srini 3-17
• Gordon W 2-10

Things tightened after match week five. Spirit’s lead is now 21 points over Superchargers. Rockets have moved off the bottom of the table, replaced by Fire, and are now six points behind Superchargers with a game in hand.

On to week six, when Spirit have the chance to extend their lead as they play Originals and Superchargers, and Fire play Rockets, looking to climb off the bottom of the table.