An unusually dry Betchworth ground welcomed the hastily scraped together Buccaneers team. The team included debutants Darryl Bird and Subir’s squash partner Richard Sadler.
The game started on a familiar note with the Buccs losing the toss and being asked to field. Richard Manyon and Freddie Bjorn produced an impressive opening spell which resembled the opening hour of a Test match at Headingly with six maiden overs in the first 10. Richard finally snapped up the first wicket with a smart low catch by the keeper Sujay. This was quickly followed by what could be possibly the catch of the season – a stunning caught and bowled by Richard Manyon. Freddie deservingly joined in and the Pilgrims were stumbling at 33 for 3. What then followed was a frustrating period of play before lunch. This included a few questionable umpiring decisions and a spilt catch at mid-wicket. However, impressive contributions by our latest recruits with Darryl’s aggressive bowling and Richard Sadler’s athletic fielding coupled with Hack’s spell of accurate bowling and usual banter, kept the Buccs spirit up. Lunch was taken with the match well poised. Unfortunately, the hearty lunch and round of port predictably swung the post-lunch session the Pilgrims way.
The Buccs begun the session promisingly with Warwick in particular bowling an excellent spell. However, some unorthodox and productive shot-making from their overseas players ensured the Pilgrims declared at 230 for 6 after 53 overs.
The Buccaneers reply started with the in-form James Stringer and the debutant opener Muktesh Ghatak. Unfortunately, Muktesh fell caught behind in the third over quickly followed by James who smashed a full toss straight to short mid-wicket. Darryl strode in at number three and demonstrated Klusener-esque ability to hit the bowl down the ground. However, he went for one shot too many and was yorked for 14. At 30 for 3 the brothers Chakravarti got together to try and rebuild the innings. Several tense overs followed either side of tea before Sujay clipped a simple return catch to an innocuous off-break. In spite of some dogged batting (Richard Sadler) and at times entertaining (Freddie Bjorn) partnerships, what followed was a steady procession of wickets. The Buccaneers only glimmer of hope of winning (having clearly being informed by Hack that saving the game was not an option) faded when a promising eight wicket partnership of 32 between Subir and Warwick was ended when Subir was trapped in front of the wicket for a well-made 57. The remaining two wickets fell rapidly to ensure more time at the Red Lion and a good-humoured discussion with the opposing team about the quality of the umpiring.
Innings of Pilgrims:
Kandasamy c Sujay Chakravarti b Manyon 8
Janardhan c & b Manyon 22
Burgess c Bjorn b Woolfries 36
Saikia b Bjorn 0
Nathavani c Sujay Chakravarti b Oakines 27
Kanabarajan not out 66
Nichollls b Manyan 14
Vijayan not out 35
Total: 230 for 6 (53 overs)
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-32, 3-33, 4-100, 5-120, 6-170,
Richard Manyon: 14-3-44-3
Freddie Bjorn: 10-4-42-1
Darryl Bird: 6-0-33-0
Richard Gwynn: 7-1-22-0
Warwick Oakines: 12-0-62-1
Simon Woolfries: 4-1-18-1
Innings of Buccaneers
James Stringer c Nathavani b Wood 6
Muktesh Ghatak c Bushe b Vijayan 2
Darryl Bird b Wood 14
Subir Chakravarti LBW Nathavani 57
Sujay Chakravarti c & b Baty 24
Richard Sadler c Wood b Baty 6
Freddie Bjorn c Bushe b Saikia 8
Richard Manyon c Burgess b Sakia 3
Warwick Oakines st Bushe b Sakia 13
Richard Gwynn b Nathavani 4
Simon Woolfries not out 0
Total: 145 all out (42.2 overs)
Fall of Wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-30, 4-69, 5-80, 6-97, 7-109, 8-141, 9-145, 10-145
Wood: 8-2-23-2
Vijayan: 9-1-28-1
Saikia: 14.2-2-43-3
Baty: 10-0-36-2
Natavani: 2-0-7-2