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Wombats Fall Short in Gallant Effort
by Owen Morris
JCL cricket finally got back underway with a trip down to Fujinomiya to face top of the table Max, who were sitting pretty with 6 wins out of 6. A disastrous bit of traffic meant that most of the team turned up late but a big thanks to Mark McTamney who took the field meaning that we still managed to put out 10 men until the cavalry arrived.
Max came out firing with some big hits from the opening batsmen but a great debut spell from Ashfaq kept the scoring manageable and eventually pinned their opener in front. Joe and Ali continued the hard work and Ali was rewarded with the wicket of the second opener with an accurate delivery that just shaved the off stump. But the Max batting line up was a strong one, and coupled with a short leg side boundary their middle order found some big hits. At one point it seemed like the Wombats would be chasing a huge total but thanks to some high standards in the field and some inspirational innuendoes from the captain, Max finished their innings at 235 from their 40.
It seemed gettable and Ritchie started off the chase with a huge hit, and then a not so huge hit, and then multiple throws of the bat after being caught. Ali came in and joined Alex for an excellent partnership which included Ali`s maiden JCL half-century. The total was ticking down steadily and Wombats seemed to be cruising along until Alex offered no shot to a googly that was clearly crashing into the middle peg… Owen joined Ali in the middle and once again the Wombats seemed to be easing towards the total, until Owen decided that a single wasn’t enough of a reward from a free hit and got run out coming back for the second. Ali struggled onwards, despite cramping of the leg and wickets falling at the other end and from what seemed like a simple chase, Wombats suddenly found themselves need a run-a-ball 30 with only 1 wicket remaining. The game appeared to be dead but what a final few overs we were in for. Dino showing the error of his demotion in the batting order by sending some handsome sixes over the ropes, Joe raised his bat after getting off the mark and then followed this up with a classy boundary to keep the game alive right to the final ball. However, despite the record 10th wicket partnership for the Wombats, we came up 3 runs short of the total, to just miss out on what would have been a useful victory against an as-yet unbeaten side.
It was not to be, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game and into the final few matches of the season.
| Tokyo Wombats CC vs Max CC |
| Japan Cricket League 2021 (Div. 1), Fuji 2, Shizuoka, October 2, 2021 |
| Toss | Max CC |
| Umpires | ? |
| Result | Max won by 4 runs |
| TWCC MoM | M Ali |
| Max CC Innings: 235 (38.4 overs) |
Batsmen | | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| S Ahmed | lbw b A Muhammad | 34 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 170.00 |
| V Iyer | b M Ali | 20 | 48 | 2 | 0 | 41.67 |
| S Nawarathna* | b R Ethugala | 46 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 113.04 |
| M Taniyama | st A Patmore b C Moscript | 37 | 49 | 2 | 1 | 75.51 |
| H Niazi | c K Jinasena b R Ethugala | 9 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 69.23 |
| S Shukla | c C Moscript b M Ali | 32 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 355.56 |
| M Kobayashi | c O Morris b C Moscript | 9 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| F Jabbar | run out (J Lewis) | 23 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 115.00 |
| T Hagihara | not out | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 125.00 |
| M Ogawa | run out (C Moscript / A Patmore) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| M Shahaz | st A Patmore b J Lewis | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | (b 1, lb 1, w 10, nb 2) | 14 | ||||
| TOTAL | (10 wickets) | 235 |
| Fall of wickets |
Bowling | O | M | R | W | wd | nb | Econ |
| J Lewis | 7.0 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6.57 |
| A Muhammad | 7.0 | 2 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.00 |
| M Ali | 8.0 | 1 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.25 |
| C Moscript | 8.0 | 1 | 50 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6.25 |
| R Ethugala | 5.0 | 0 | 60 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 12.00 |
| K Jinasena | 4.0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Tokyo Wombats CC Innings: 231/9 (40.0 overs) |
Batsmen | | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| A Patmore*† | lbw b M Taniyama | 63 | 75 | 8 | 1 | 84.00 |
| R Bracefield | c S Ahmed b M Ogawa | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 116.67 |
| M Ali | c M Taniyama b V Iyer | 63 | 82 | 3 | 4 | 76.83 |
| O Morris | run out (M Ogawa) | 15 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 107.14 |
| B Bhinder | c M Taniyama b S Ahmed | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| R Ethugala | b S Ahmed | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 88.89 |
| J Shearer | not out | 25 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 78.12 |
| C Moscript | c M Ogawa b V Iyer | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| K Jinasena | run out (S Shukla) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| A Muhammad | c M Kobayashi b S Ahmed | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| J Lewis | not out | 8 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 47.06 |
| Extras | (b 1, lb 5, w 29, nb 4) | 39 | ||||
| TOTAL | (9 wickets) | 231 |
| Fall of wickets |
Bowling | O | M | R | W | wd | nb | Econ |
| T Hagihara | 5.0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.80 |
| M Ogawa | 4.0 | 0 | 42 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 10.50 |
| H Niazi | 3.0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4.67 |
| F Jabbar | 3.0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7.00 |
| V Iyer | 8.0 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.75 |
| M Taniyama | 7.0 | 0 | 59 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.43 |
| S Nawarathna* | 3.0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.67 |
| S Ahmed | 7.0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4.43 |
Dropped Catches
- The usually reliable Ali dropping one he’d normally take.
- Bilal putting down a laser beam at mid-off. Has a massive bruise on his shoulder to prove it!
Quotes
- The more it goes in and out, the harder it gets,” says the skipper (apparently) referring to something cricket related after a wicket fell.
- Something along the lines of “I knew you were a club legend but thought you were a bit old and sh-t, until today” — Ali with a Federer-esque backhand to Dino
- “You blokes said she didn’t have an arm!” Says Owen after being run out by The Meg. Perhaps watch the game instead of talking real estate before you go out to bat?!?!?
Great Moments in Sport
- Ali and Alex both with 63.
- Second wicket partnership of more than 100 between the two. Champagne cricket.
- Alex hitting a 6! Unicorn!
- Ali hitting four 6s!
- Joe raising his bat after getting off the mark…
- Dino and Joe I believe posting a new record (and unbeaten) 10th wicket partnership, almost bringing us back from the dead
- Dino’s 25* including one huge slog sweep for 6
- Ali and Rasika bowling the 2 best Max batsmen, both classic dismissals
- Mark McTamney helping out in the field so that we at least had 10 players at the start
- Ali’s first(?) JCL half-century
Dummy Spits
- Richie tossing his bat next to the umpire when he got out to The Meg.
- “It was an effin wrong-un!” cried the skipper while chucking his gear into his bag after being given out LBW as if to explain why he wasn’t out (probably not as compelling an argument as he thought it was).
- “Fark, I get a red-inker the previous game opening and then get demoted to 7.” — Dino leaving out the fact the last game ended with him face down in the middle of the pitch with an exploded calf.
Golden Thong Nominations
- Owen running himself out coming back for a second off of a free hit
