Aug, 2009 – Sharks Get Stuck in the Mud

KCL – Sharks VS LalaZaar, 9/8/2009
By Alexis Coovre

The Sharks continued their losing streak at Ageo, getting hammered by Lala Zaar, by six wickets.

Eight Sharks, a couple of ring-ins, a spectator, plus two bubbly bambinos assembled at the rendezvous point full of pent-up hunger, and hope that the weather gods would finally smile in their favour. Waiting for a Jamaican (who never showed up) to make it a complete outfit, the Sharks ‘sharked-around’ in full glory, scoffing McMuffins and playing catch with oranges before boarding the gleaming white rebel transport bound for Dagobah.

Torrential rain on Friday night turned the usual rock hard surface into a boggy marsh barely fit for the gentleman’s game. Pilot Adams did a seven-zero-niner before setting down on the velvety surface and the green chevaliers quickly made camp. A shallow marshland was the outfield, microdots of fungi littering the field; a potential deathtrap, and the players were told to be cautious. The centre square was a touch harder, and the green belter shone like an emerald.

The Lala Zaar boys were buzzing. Captain Chris met the opposing captain, and together they assessed the conditions. It had a been a couple of years since the two sides had battled, and after losing the toss, the Sharks were ordered-in to bat in the murky light.

The vanguard of Adams and Fukumoto (ring-in #1) strode out to bat, taking their mark on the unnatural strip. Opening bowlers Norman and Faisal quickly found a line and length, and the Sharks batsmen rightly took their time to have a look. After four overs of not many at all, Fukumoto broke the shackles, sending one past the ring of despair. Next over, Adams tried to crash one past point, but only succeeded in edging it to the keeper.

The score at 1/11, rock of Gibraltar, Lollback, entered, coeval with the appearance of Gulzhar. Gulzhar’s laser-like bowling was too much for the compact Fukomoto, toppling his castle with his fourth delivery.

Agarwal entered the bullring, and began pensively; a run here, a block there. But impatience got the better of him, with his smacking one straight to a fielder.

Presently the Sharks were 3/29; Sano player (ring-in #2), Sugiura, joined the Big White Shark, and together rallied to the cause, knocking the red cherry around for ones and twos.

Overs ticking away, Lollback began tucking into anything loose; on one occasion slapping bowler Abid way over square leg for the maximum result. Lollback welcomed Mubashar with two fours in a row, but the bowler had the last laugh when his opposite number square cut him straight to point, ending a 29 run partnership.

Skipper Thurgate, strode out to the middle, he too having a good look at the bowling. A few wides and singles later, the polished Sugiura got the finger from umpire Mumtaz; getting hit on the pads by a leg-side drifter.

Naked-Man watched from the sidelines, impartial to the 5/56 score line. Sancheti came to the crease and with him an air of unpredictability. Wasim had a bowl, and delivered eight wides in his first over (a new record?), which helped the unlikely pair ease their way into things.

Finding the channel, Thurgate, restored the run-rate to more than six an over, delighting in anything pitched up. The skipper treated Gulzar and Abid with particular disdain, hitting the former for a glorious six over long on, and the latter for a lofted on drive, just short of the rope – the indent in the mud, proof enough.

The sang-froid in Sancheti began to pulsate, with his looking for ones and twos, and fours off anything wayward. The Thurcheti resistance amassed 40 runs in as many balls before Thurgate was cleaned up trying to go downtown.

Debutant Mohamed came in and heard a crash of ash, second ball. And next in line, Morimoto was trapped in front for a golden duck’s egg – both of them victims of Norman, who was now on a hat-trick…but sadly out of overs.

Last man Coovre came in with the score at 8/106, and played support role to Sancheti, who by this stage was seeing it like a piñata. With five overs left, and no wickets in hand, Sancheti tempered his stroke play, pacing his way to the finish line with some controlled fours, lending the scoreboard some respectability. Coovcheti put on a 22 run partnership, before the innings was ended; the score 9/128.

Lunchtime: Pink Floyd boomed from the rebel transport; the smell of Aaloo Gobi wafted in the air; Adams was budgeting; Tamzid was making like a windmill; Sharks silently ate their onigiri’s and soggy sandwiches, sweat pouring from their polyester shirts. Naked man mentally munched nothingness. “Can we defend 128?” they said to nobody.

Coovre was given the new ball, and from the get-go found control difficult in the ‘ice rink with no skates’ conditions. After a few close calls, Barkat tried to hit him out of the park, but only succeeded in finding Morimoto, who, running quickly backwards to his right, took the catch of his career.

Lala Zaar plays just like the Giants, always going for the big money and the fabulous prizes. Mohammed came into the attack, bowling for the first time as a Shark. He proceeded to put it on the spot, but the impetuous Aashiq welcomed him with a six and two fours.

With the audacious approach you’ll only find in a KCL game, Aashiq and Rizwan skewed the ball to all corners of the jungle, waking up the Bog Wings and Giant Swamp Slugs in the process. Morimoto was treated with disdain, and Mohammed tried in vain to keep the lid on the smoking run-rate. Agarwal was brought on, and Aashiq, who had just brought up his fifty, drilled him to straight to Sancheti, who snaffled another silver bullet, at cover.

The Sharks began to run out of money in the bank, thanks to the big hitting Gulzhar, who challenged the outfielders to cheat the quicksand, which lay menacingly at the Dragonsnake Bog end. But the persevering Mohammed got Gulzhar plum in front to sour the mood of the innings. With only a few more runs to get, Lala Zaar continued to hustle, and, just before the finish line, Rizwan chipped one straight to Coovre at mid-wicket, to give the mudsharks something to smile about. The best battles are the ones we lose…

The players shook hands with each other, the mat was rolled up, and the dishevelled warriors began hoisting their weary bodies aboard the rebel transport; the 2009 KCL season was over. Just as the white ship raised its landing gear, a young Typhoon Etau came out of nowhere, ready to make a mess of things, but the deed was done, and now the swamp planet was but a blur of green and grey.

The Sharks’ attention now turns south, to Fuji, scene of the JCL clash against the Predators. With some big names ready to come back into the side, and a full XI likely, the Sharks will set about turning the Predators into the hunted…