Feb, 2011 – No Pot of Gold at the End Against Rainbow

Chiba Sharks vs Rainbow United, 19 Feb. 2010
By Kris Bayne

For Game 7, the last before Finals, the Chiba Sharks squared up to the colourfully named Rainbow United. This season we have often assembled our own ‘rainbow’ of sorts with players from all over the world and tonight’s team was no exception: Dave (c) & Kris (Australia), Shafi (Bangladesh), Koji (Japan), Anton (UK) and Charles (USA). Our season stands at 3-3, so this is our chance to paint it, and the Rainbow, black.

Batting

Kris and Koji were entrusted to open the innings, with Dave ordering a nice entrée of 30 runs. Once bitten twice shy (see YFK report), before the innings the pair got together to work on a strategy. The pair paid close attention on the last ball of each over and with some sensible hitting and running, the result was a credible 25-run start. The good start unfortunately could not be sustained as our power pair of Dave and Charles certainly hit the ball, but too many times in trouble as much as the net. The pair battled themselves as much as accurate United attack to wrestle the score up to 44. The final pair of Anton and Shafi recognised the need to get some more runs on the board. Being Shafi’s first indoor game we could perhaps expect a mix up or two and one over saw us lose a couple of wickets. Despite this they got us up to a defendable 57. All batsmen were a little fortunate with the butter-fingered fielding of Rainbow. We could have easily been much fewer, but although 57 was not our best effort it was at least a target. Batting: Kris 18 Koji 7 Dave 5 Charles 14 Anton 3 Shafi 10

Bowling

We had a relatively inexperienced attack so it would be a good challenge to defend the smallish total. Anton opened the bowling with a solid over with Charles bagging a wicket in his. Koji continued to improve and Kris locked down another over to see Rainbow eke out 17 – good start for us. The same bowlers took the next set of four overs with a similar return to Rainbow get to 37. With Dave and ‘newbie’ Shafi to finish out we were in with a chance. With 21 to get off four overs we would have to be sharp and take wickets. As expected, though, they would face off against the better batting pair. Shafi started well with a run-out second ball and things were looking promising. That was probably the end of our joy, however, as the experienced Rainbow pair played sensibly, pushing the accurate bowling into side nets to consistently pick up singles. The bowlers pitched up trying to entice a catch or grab a bowled but a couple of solid shots put Rainbow’s nose in front. It really came down to the last ball with RU on 60 – a wicket was needed but the previous subdued Miyagi finally pulled out a shot to down us. Bowling: Anton 0-12 Koji 0-13 Charles 2-2 Kris 0-11 Shafi 1-7 Dave L 0-19

Another close game for the Sharks. But another good game. The loss gave us a losing record in the Indoor Comp at 3-4. After being at the top of the table for most of our indoor expeditions it was a reality check. We cycled a lot of new players through the teams over the games – Koji, Richard, Rockey, Dave Rear, Nick Hogg, Charles, Shafi – which is a great effort. We should not look at our experience, though, as much as notice the continual growing experience and skill of our opponents. Now – Onward to the Finals!раскруткаaracerdeeoпрограмма для накрутки лайков вконтакте скачать бесплатнокупить чехол для айфон 5онлайн заявка на кредитную карту альфа банкаcasino movie online with subtitleshow much are escortsonline casino turkceNext vip salealtezza climbing limited отзывыфункциональный тренинг печатники