HALVERSTOWN 1: 205 all out from 40 overs
Batting: P. Rosa 49 L. Joseph 38 A.van Wyk 26 C. Hamilton 25
Bowling: N. Case 6-0-10-3 V. Yannam 6-011-2 J. Threadgold 8-0-44-2 L. Joseph 8-0-36-1
ADAMSTOWN 5: 130 all out
Batting: V. Komati 28 V. Rajendran 24 J. Balamuragan 22 N. Sangar 16
Bowling: B. Hedge 4-0-23-1 V. Rajendran 6-1-17-2 F. Iqbal 8-0-57-2 V. Komati 6-0-32-2
The sun beamed down on beautiful Harristown and Vishnu's first outing as league captain consisted of two clear instructions to the team: score 200 (done) and bowl them out (done). It may not be like this all the time, but it was a really good team performance to start the 2023 season. It was also a more competitive game that the scoreboard suggests.
Adamstown won the toss and deliberated before putting Halverstown in to bat. This looked a good decision as we stumbled to 24-3 after 9 overs. Enter Paulo with a quickfire 49 that changed the momentum of the game. Chris Hamilton held things together well at one end and then as the pressure eased somewhat, Lijo, Vishnu, Adriaan all scored good runs. With Bala chipping in at the end, the total of 205 was a good one particularly as it had seemed unlikely early on.
In reply, opening bowlers Neville and Vishnu bowled well and struck early to have them 5-2. It looked good, but they fought back. At 86-4 in the 21st over and with batters hitting out, Adamstown were well in the game. Really good catches from Gunter, Paulo, Barry Elshove and a sensational one from Vishnu (which finished with some kind of Tai Chi right on the boundary to keep himself from stepping over the line), were instrumental in turning the match in our favour. Once the hitters were gone, Neville put the tail out of its misery in fairly short order to clinch a very good win.
Hubert has left the team in good shape for the season ahead. The bowling was good, the batting was very good and the fielding helped to win us the game. That's a basis for success and with a really good team spirit, hopes are high for the season ahead. Next up is Dundalk on Saturday 20th in Harristown.
Vishnu could be forgiven for thinking "Wouldn't it be great if it was like this all the time?"
Written by John Threadgold.