After a cracking April for the Shark’s, May was always likely to be somewhat of a comedown but what was not expected was a lot of rain. Abnormally Kyushu started its rainy season nearly a full month early and although the rainy season was not announced in the Kanto it definitely seemed like it had arrived with both the months JCL Div 1 matches (May 17th and May 31st) rained off and a JCL Div 2 and Japan Cup match both having to switch grounds because of waterlogged pitches.

The first of the matches to have to switch pitch, and the first match of May, was the JCL Div 2 match against Sano on May 10th. The crease at riverside ground 3 was covered by an inch of water, so the match was switched to 1B, which was wet but not submerged, and reduced to 30 overs to allow a late start. The Shark’s won the toss and batted first, but the slippery conditions made scoring hard. Umar batting at 6 made the best score with 32 from 43 balls. The team batted out their overs however, and reached a total of 116/8. Sano`s innings also started slowly with the Shark’s looking in control by the end of the 8th over, with Sano on 13/3, however the ground started to dry making scoring easier and a solid performance by Sano batter Kohei Wakita turned the game. The Sharks bowlers continued to dismiss batsmen, but in the end Sano dug in and fought to the end, finally chasing down the Sharks in the 27th over with 2 wickets remaining. Ash (1/14 off 6 overs), Vik (2/18 off 5.3 overs) and Tim (2/19 off 5 overs) were pick of the Sharks bowlers and Sud was hot in the gloves taking 3 stumpings.

The weather the next day, Sunday May 11th could not have been more different for the 3rd XI JCL Div 4 match against the Tokyo Titans. The day started dry and cloudy and ended up sunny. Joining the team for the first time were Aman (who joined as 12th man a few weeks previously), plus father and son Matt and Sam; Sam is also the Sharks youngest player – 13 years old at the time of writing. The Shark’s won the toss and chose to bowl, making good steady work against the Titans and holding them to a total of 166/10. Kris (3/30 off 6), Dave (2/28 off 7) and Matt (2/22 off 4) were the notable bowlers. The Sharks batting started well with Anthony M. and Ali forming a 50 run partnership and taking the Sharks to 55/1 at the end of the 13th over. After Anthony M. was removed for 26 Matt came to bat and put up an impressive 48 off 27 balls before being run out; but the damage had been done and the Sharks were on 118/4 with 13 overs remaining. Dave added 25 (not out) and Sam 13 to give the Sharks a win on 170/5 – the final shot being a sublime 6 by Dave. Player of the Match was given to Matt.

A win for the thirds

The following Sunday, May 18th, saw a rare match in Sano for the Japan Cup East Kanto teams with the Sharks playing the Tuskers in Division 1. The previous day had been rain and the match was supposed to be played on riverside 3, however it was again submerged. This time the Sharks were able to play on riverside 1C instead. The pre-match huddle focused on analysing the conditions and posting anything above 120. The Tuskers won the toss and decided to bowl, a choice they must have thought was good after some early wickets and the Sharks down to 47/5 at the end of the 9th over. The Shark’s are never out, however – especially this year’s Japan Cup team – and Muneeb and Rithvik then dug in and fought back. Muneeb hitting 40 off 37 balls and Rithvik 35 off 24. Unluckily Muneeb was bowled in the 20th over however the Sharks made 136/8 and had a defendable total. The Sharks bowling attack started well with the Tuskers opener being removed in the second over, however the next 6 overs were a battle between the sides with no wickets being taken, and the batters starting to use the pacers speed against them. At the end of the 9th the Tuskers were on 66/1 and the Sharks had switched to spin so the batters didn’t have pace to work with. The next few overs were to prove decisive; Ben came in and took 4 wickets for 8 runs with Ash bowling some tight overs between and suddenly the Sharks were on top. Manav, Ibrahim, Muneeb and Tim all bowled well from the 15th over taking 3 wickets and conceding just 28 runs to take the Sharks over the line for a win by 20 runs; the Japan Cup side’s 2nd win in a row. Ben was player of the match for his very economical, and crucial, 4 wickets.

Spot of water on the pitch?

Saturday 24th the 2nd XI were playing again, looking to come back from their defeat in early May by beating the Falcons in the JCL 2 match at Sano 1A. Batting first the Sharks put up a respectable 239/7 with opener and Captain Ash hitting 50 and youngster Tim getting a maiden Div 2 century on his way to posting 112 off 104 – the third century for a Div 2 player this season! The show is not over until the fat lady sings, however, and today the fat lady made an appearance in the name of K. Bisht, the immovable big swinger (ooh err missus!) from the Falcons how hammered his way to 155 off 88 balls, taking away the Sharks hopes of a win and leaving the ego’s of more than one of the bowlers seriously bruised. It could have been very different if one of the dropped catches had stuck, but cricket is cricket and these things happen. In the end the Falcons chased down the Sharks in the 32nd over. The Sharks did get a last word in, however, with Taiga stumping Bisht on the second to last delivery, off a great ball by Ash. Sharks Lifer and Umpiring supremo Chris summarised “We got Bisht bashed”.

First JCL2 Century

Could the 3rd, playing Keio University in JCL Div 4 the next day do any better? After some light early morning rain the weather cleared to perfect weather for cricket – warm, slightly overcast and no wind. The warmup was led by Dave, who was also selling the fantastic new Sharks stickers durning the breaks, part of our new merch strategy. After winning the toss Dave and Anthony M. opened and got the team off to a solid start. The Sharks batted out all 35 overs, with a steady flow of runs and wickets taking the side to 194/8. On the way to their total 2 players posted more than 30 (Dave and Vik) and tail enders Mairaj and Will had a little fun adding 24 runs off the last 9 balls. The Sharks started their bowling with spin, a strategy that worked well with only 29 runs being scored off the first 7 overs. The match remained balanced on par score until the 30th over when Y. Kawamura came on and used a baseball technique to hit 26 off 11 balls, effectively wrapping up the game. Keio chased down their target on the last ball of the 24th over, to beat the Shark by 4 wickets. Despite the loss the thirds showed how much they have improved since last year – the game could easily have gone their way, it was a true thriller enjoyed by both teams.

Sharks latest merch’

Outside the Sharks matches, some of our players had international duties at the start of the month, with Japan hosting a Tri-Series with the Cook Islands and Thailand between May 7th and 11th followed by a 2 match series with the Cook Islands on the 13th and 14th. Sharkies Kendel, Ben and Ibby featured helping Japan reach the final of the Tri Series and achieving a clean sweep against the Cook Islands. Well done guys!