Asker vs NTNUI
"This is our most important match of the season" said Mehdi. Everyone agreed and decided to meet at 08:30 for warm-ups in Ekeberg II. At 09:00, half of Asker CC was ready and the other half was missing.
Asker CC won the toss and decided to bat first. Khayyam and Israr walked out to open the innings in good conditions for bowling. NTNUI has a reputation for a good bowling attack and they showed why. The new ball bowlers got the ball to seam and bounce. Israr looked in good touch, getting to the pitch of the ball to minimize the movement. Khayyam got a few unplayable deliveries before getting out. Qasim joined Israr in the middle at no.3. Israr got out just when he was starting to look good. Ravi joined Qasim in the middle, but fell soon after bowled. At 47/3, Asker needed a partnership. Mohammed Ali Ahmed making his debut for Asker then put on a good partnership with Qasim. They kept the scorecard ticking by rotating the strike against some disciplined bowling. Spin was introduced into the attack, and Ali fell immediately. Tara joined Qasim but Qasim too fell soon after. Mehdi joined Tara and was harsh on the spinners, hitting them inside out on a few occasions.Tara then got out, with the scorecard reading 97/6. M.Ali joined Mehdi and continued to do a good job. Ali, in particular, took a liking for the spinners, hitting a huge six to cow corner. Mehdi then fell, and Hashir followed him soon after without troubling the scorer. M.Ali was finally out after an aggressive innings, and Happy was not so happy after being given out LBW. Mirza played some good shots and remained unbeaten at the end of the innings with the scorecard reading 125.
The score was much less than what Asker would have liked and they needed to bowl extremely well, especially since one of their strike bowlers, Hamza, was not playing.
Qasim and Tara opened the bowling in disciplined fashion. Qasim got one to seam away inducing an edge and getting the dangerous Chadra out, Hashir making no mistake behind the wicket.
The NTNUI batsmen decided to play safe, till the next one was runout, thanks to some smart work by Hashir. Mirza and Israr came on as first change. Israr immediately got a breakthrough with an LBW. Mehdi started him spell from the other end, and soon had his man. He then contributed to Israr's next wicket with a nice catch at long on. Tara came on for his second spell and bowled good lengths and was rewarded with a catch to the covers. With 6 wickets down at this stage, Asker could smell victory but were running out of strike bowlers. Khayyam decided to put his trust in Hashir and Happy. Hashir had been showing very good pace in the nets and he took his chance with both hands.He troubled the batsmen and took his first wicket in his first over, Mirza taking a fine tumbling catch. Mehdi then came back and got the crucial wicket of Naseem. The tailenders however did not give up and got a couple of boundaries away.With 13 needed and 2 wickets in hand, Hashir took another wicket in his next over. Khayyam tossed the ball to Qasim who got his man out bowled and celebrated in Shoaib Akthar style. Asker won a tight match and moved to second position in the points table.
Notable performances: Hashir's bowling, M.Ali's six and Ali Ahmed's debut
Comical dismissal of the day: Ravi ducking into a slow bouncer to get out bowled
The scorecard can be found here.