August is now a quieter month for senior cricket in Japan, with fewer 40 over games scheduled because of the heat. Across the 3 Sharks JCL teams each had only one scheduled game. 

First of the Mark were the 1st XI with a JCL Div 1 game against AQCC on August 3rd, in a match shortened to 35 overs to allow for extra drinks breaks. Having won the toss the Sharks took the sensible option and opted to bat, hoping to tire out AQCC by making them field in the heat first. The Sharks batters played this more like a T20 game, with 7 players getting strike rates North of 100. Nikhil, Ben & Ghufran each got more than 50, with Ghufran hitting 77 off just 25 balls. In the end the Sharks put up a massive 313/8. When AQCC`s time came to bat it started off looking like the heat had affected the Sharks bowlers with 13 extras in the first 2 balls, before the ship was righted on the 3rd ball and Rui took the scalp of the second opener. The wickets came freely after this with all seven Sharks bowlers taking wickets. Ben had the best economy bowing 3 overs at an economy of 1. AQCC were all out in the 24th over for a total of 127. Man of the Match was Ghufran.

The very next day the 2nd XI were looking to emulate the 1st XI in a JCL Div 2 game against MIB, the match again shortened to 35 overs and the temperature touching 37 degrees in the shade. This time it was the opponents who won the toss, and who chose to make the Sharks field first in the heat. The Sharks bowled well with Tim and Yasir taking three wickets each and putting pressure on MIB. After 35 overs MIB had a total of 229/9 – the Sharks could smell victory. The openers started well, Sud putting on 49 and Manav 29 before some unfavourable umpiring decisions (including a batter being given LBW by the leg umpire) affected the flow of the game. The Sharks ultimately lost by 33 runs and felt the game had been unfairly taken from them. The 2nd XI`s first win of 2024 is yet to come….

On August 10th the Sharks Japan Cup side was playing Myoden in a very important game for the side – a good win was needed to help them secure 4th place in the table and a place in the playoffs. Having won the toss the Sharks chose to bat (because of the heat – do you see a pattern here?). The Sharks batted well with Ben (61) and Abhipray (75) the standout performances. After 20 overs the Sharks were on 223/5, a handsome score! Myoden were always the underdogs, but they could tell it was not their day when their opening batsman was dispatched for a golden duck by Aditya. From then on the wickets were steady, with only 1 batsmen making a real stand. Myoden were bowled out in the last over on a total of just 86. The Sharks had gained 4th place – job done. Man of the match was Abhipray.

Two other games were scheduled for the Sharks in August – a JCL T20 game (abandoned because of rain) and a JCL Div 4 game (cancelled because of Typhoon Shansan); the last of these cancelled games meant Keio escaped a beating again!

Two wins off three means August was not a bad month for the Sharks, despite the nature of the one loss. At the end of the month the Sharks finished 2nd in JCL Div1, 9th in JCL Div2, 4th in JCL Div4, 4th in the Japan Cup, East Kanto Division 1 and 5th place in group A of the JCL T20.