Disciplined bowling helps Imperial to closest of wins

With the sun and the schedule finally coalescing in a fashion allowing for a match, the Imperial 2’s kickstarted our 2014 season in the best possible fashion, delivering a win for new skipper Sam Mead. Having lost the toss on a “dry” wicket, we were put in to field and pressure was on the frontline seamers to make best use of the new ball. The skipper himself led from the front, prising out 2 top order wickets with some good accurate bowling. He was ably supported by Nick Dunn from the other end, who was making the best use of the “mysterious” Harlington bounce and was unfortunate not to take wickets in his first spell. He was, however, able to completely tie up one end, finishing with a scarcely believable economy rate of 1.50. Johan Rekers was in as first change and chipped in with a wicket as well, along with a rather comical bouncer attempt which he insists was off a “good length”.

The middle overs belonged to the spin-twins, Mak Gill and Arvind Rajagopalan, uniting the arts of finger and wrist spin to good effect to counter a Birbeck middle-order riddled with front-foot defence experts. 4 wickets were taken during this period, including a poor man’s “Ball of the Century” from Arvind and a run-out by Mak. Both were unlucky not to get more with plenty of dropped catches and tough LBW appeals turned down. With a stubborn tail left to get through, Nick Dunn returned and finally got the important breakthrough to send Birbeck’s captain (also named Arvind) back for 58. Debutant Sarus Jain provided a clinic in death bowling, repeatedly getting the ball full outside offstump and going at only 4/over in his 5 overs, finishing with a wicket. After a spirited bowling performance, Birbeck were held to 139-8, giving Imperial a target of 140 to chase in 40 overs.

Imperial got off to a rollicking start with Karan Dhall and Hemant Morjaria milking the Birbeck opening pair for easy singles and twos. Highlights included a TransferWise Maximum by Karan, sending the ball flying over midwicket boundary, and Hemant experiencing the first cramp of his life. Unfortunately both lost their wickets cheaply after getting starts. Padman Bhatt, in at 3, was not able to stay for very long either, while Luke Gardner at 4 was able to club a few past the fielders before losing his wicket as well. Nick stabilised the innings with skipper Sam, who despite being agonisingly out of touch, was able to fight to 19.

At this point, Birbeck’s skipper Arvind, who had been keeping for them, decided to come on to bowl. Proving to be an Allrounder in the truest sense, he troubled Sam and Nick on multiple occasions, leading to some downright comical running between the wickets due to the sheer pressure of the situation. Finally, he was able to prise out both their wickets. Our keeper Matt Wetton tried his level best but could not get the ball past the infield. He did, however, register the TransferWise shot of the day, playing a two-handed forehand tennis smash to a beamer. Mak Gill came and left without troubling the scorers, and Imperial was left in a precarious situation, with 3/4 of the batting line-up back in the pavilion with half the game left to play and around 30 runs left to get.

Displaying unbelievable composure in his debut game, Sarus, in at 9, steered the chase, finishing unbeaten on 19. He was supported by no. 10 Johan, who managed to scratch 6 off the target before playing onto his stumps. In walked nightwatchman Arvind, calmly driving a four down the ground to tie the scores before a wide delivery gave Imperial a hard-fought victory by 1 wicket (140-9). In one of life’s cruel ironies, one Arvind did everything in his power to try and win the game for his team, but the winning runs came from the other Arvind, proving that teams, not individuals, win matches. Bowling figures: Sam 2-21 (6 overs) Arvind 2-24 (8 overs) Batting figures: Karan 22(25) Sarus 19(13) MOTM: A tie between Sarus for his late-game heroics and Sam Mead’s Bat, for scoring half our runs Transferwise Quote of the Day: PB - “Let’s get him boys he’s driving without a license!”