Japan Cup Finals – Round 1: Sharks vs Tohoku
12.10.13 By Anton Lloyd-Williams
Very much an unknown quantity, this Tohoku side, and they were still largely unknown when they took the field with just 7 men having won the toss. As they hadn’t had much practice time with the hard ball or even a cricket pitch, and having to borrow various amounts of equipment from us, Tohoku skipper Gold decided that it would be better to get a good feel of the strip and the leather before anything else, and it was probably the right decision. They were bolstered to 10 as the innings progressed.
The Sharks opened their inaugural Japan Cup Finals campaign with: Dave L (C), Nick (W) Murad, Adit, KB, Sagar, Takady, Anton, Mairaj, Alwin and Prashant.
For many of the Tohoku team it was their first time at Sano but they soon got plenty of chances to acquaint themselves with the locale flora as Nick and Murad sent the ball to all corners of the closely cropped ground. Tohoku’s bowlers had a bit of early trouble with the radar and shipped a cartload of wides that the ‘keeper could do precious little about.
However, once the Tohoku radar found its bearing, in between the wides and boundaries the odd good ball crept through to the stumps and a steady stream of Shark wickets fell throughout the morning session. Murad looked good until he misjudged one that stayed low. Prashant came back for a golden duck (a real collector’s item that!) and two balls later Takady simply missed one. Both fell to Tohoku’s most dangerous-looking bowler, Alagu, who showed some real pace when he got warmed up. Sharks at 3 for 30 after just 4 overs. However, the Sharks ship was rescued by Dave L and Alwin who shared good stands with Nick and punished the Tohoku bowling, which lost a bit of its bite and went wayward again.
Wides found the boundary and the scoreboard raced past 100 in only the 12th over. After Nick was caught launching one too many, Alwin’s whirring, wind-assisted bat was well supported by Adit and then KB and they pushed the Sharks on to a very respectable 183 for 6.
It was actually a pretty good recovery after the alarming early losses. Traditionally the Sharks enjoy collapsing after such setbacks. This time though we dug in and stuck it out till the end.
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| Batsman | How Out | 4/6 | Balls | Runs |
| Murad | Bowled | 11 | 4 | |
| Nick | Caught | 10 | 41 | 63 |
| Prashant | Bowled | 1 | 0 | |
| Takady | Bowled | 2 | 0 | |
| Dave L | Bowled | 1/1 | 30 | 21 |
| Alwin | Not Out | 1/2 | 18 | 28 |
| Adit | Bowled | 4 | 2 | |
| KB | Not Out | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Anton | DNB | |||
| Sagar | DNB | |||
| Mairaj | DNB | |||
| Extras | 53 | |||
| 20 overs | 6 | for | 183 | |
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Tohoku’s reply to the steep chase was short-lived. Adit ‘The Removal Man’ Tallapragada destroyed Mostafiz’s stumps first ball and a few balls later the new batsman was also minus some woodwork. The wheels really fell off from there. Apart from Alagu, none of the batsmen could settle let alone score and when they chose to try to hit their way into the game, they simply ended up taking the long walk back.
Helped by some stunning fielding from Alwin and Dave, the Sharks bowlers were on top throughout. Adit looked as crafty and dangerous as always while Lollback’s heavy, full length deliveries proved too much. Takady, bowling spin, caused all kinds of chaos and Sagar’s pace kept the batsman stuck at the crease. The Tohoku lads had not seen anything like this bowling assault for a while (and fair enough, neither had the Sharks to be honest). Prashant swept up the tail with little mercy and Tohoku were done and dusted for just 28.
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | wd/nb | Runs | Wickets |
| Adit | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sagar | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Dave L | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Prashant | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| Takady | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
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| Fielder | How out | Bowler |
| Dave L | Catch at mid off – the ball went so high Dave had time to loosen several garments. | Takady |
| Alwin | Lightning cut off, collect and throw back to Dave | |
| Dave L | Catch at mid off | Prashant |
| Nick | Easy stumping to a suicidal dance down the wicket | Takady |
They will no doubt feel disappointed with that tally and should do too as there’s plenty of spirit and technique in the side but they need to find a way to convert these strengths to runs. One batsman made 17, we gave them 7 extras and there were 4 scores of 1 and 4 ducks… They just met the Sharks at the wrong time. The Sharks were ruthless, precise and incessant. It was indeed a perfect start to the Japan Cup 2013 Finals campaign.
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Thanks to Tohoku for making the long trip for a good game and to Umpires Franklin and Suleiman for their expertise.
