JCL1 Sharks vs Wyverns at Sano 3
Sat 14 June, By Anton Lloyd-Williams
A steamy Saturday Sano 3 was the scene for the return leg of the Sharks vs Wyverns tussle. Round 1 had gone to the Sharks at a blossom filled Tanuma in April and they were looking to repeat the dose and continue their recent run of form.
Heavy rain had given the ground a lush green hue but had also turned parts of the outfield into a pungent marsh and added half an inch to the grass cover, meaning runs would be about as easy to find as shade, what with only the one tent.
Some old faces and new ones made up the Sharks XI: Dave L (C), Dhugal, Ashiq, Prashant, Takady, Anton, Sumon, Adit, Zain, Adeel (Ashiq’s brother, 1st game) and Ryo (Takady’s mate, 1st game)
Dave lost the toss and….. but was invited to bat anyway and accompanied Ashiq out into the middle to get the day’s play underway. From the outset it looked like hard graft. Nakano and Masubuchi both bowled good lines but while Dave and Ashiq found the middle of the bat, the soggy turf and clingy grass took all of the legs out of the ball as it struggled in vain to the boundaries.
Singles were taken smartly though and the odd wide kept the scoreboard ticking away at about 5 an over. Then followed a regular procession of wickets, frustratingly every time a partnership looked to be about to come into bloom. Ashiq was first back in the hutch, mis-reading a full toss and then Dhughal followed a few overs later having played himself in quite convincingly. He got a fine edge which the keeper, Tomita, dived forward to catch well.
All the while Skipper Lollback kept plugging away, middling singles along the deck and running twos from aerial balls that stopped where they grounded. It wasn’t a knock entirely without chances though. The fielder at long on got to rue some sore hands as he shelled a high looper out by the ropes. Prashant was not so lucky and found Nakano’s hands up to the task out deep at Cow Corner.
With two thirds of the Sharks main run scorers already under canvas, it was imperative that someone hang around to keep Dave company in the middle and try to build a foundation. The bowling was hardly threatening but runs were obstinately hard to find as the Wyverns fielders covered the ground like the youthful gazelles that they are.
Takady took up the challenge, mixing sensible leaves with some brutal cuts that saw the pair to the 20 over mark with the score at 109 for 3. His punchy looking innings came to an end when he pushed one back straight to the bowler, Takahashi; a dismissal he has looked a bit prone to recently.
The middle order looked to get after the tiring bowlers with Adeel playing some nice drives and some less convincing cross batted-stuff before nicking one behind. Sumon came in and soon found his recent mojo working again with some assertive looking strokes up through the covers and vacant gully areas. Having reached his half century, Dave was punishing anything wayward and 6s started to appear in the scorebook. A quick drink later and he was looking good for another century with the ball sailing high out behind deep square leg. 6 or 4 was the question on everyone’s lips. Not Takahashi’s though as he took a stunning one handed diving catch at the ropes. It was classic Wyverns fielding at its best and brought a standing ovation from the scorers’ tent. A worthy end to another great skippers knock of patience, power and luck that put 71 on the board.
Dave’s stay in the middle had laid the foundation for a target of 220ish which on this pitch would have been quite defendable. However the tail hardly twitched as good opening shots were backed up by agricultural ones. The exception was Adit who played some nifty little leg glances and in lieu of poor shots had to be content with running Zain out in the 37th over, leaving the Sharks a bit short of comfort at 190 all out.
| ggg. | ggg. | ggg. | B | 4 | 6 | R | |
| D. Lollback | c. Takahashi | b. Ueda | 82 | 2 | 2 | 71 | |
| A. Hussain | ggg. | b. Masubuchi | 22 | 1 | 0 | 15 | |
| D. Bedingfield | c. Tomita | b. Ueda | 19 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| P. Kale | c. Nakano | b. Ueda | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| T. Takada | c & b | b. Takahashi | 24 | 2 | 0 | 19 | |
| M. Adeel | c. Tomita | b. Ueda | 22 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| M. Haque | c. Tomita | b. Nakano | 15 | 1 | 0 | 11 | |
| R. Yamashita | lbw | b. Masubuchi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| A. Lloyd-Williams | ggg | b. Nakano | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| A. Tallapragada | Not out | ggg | 17 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| S. Abaden | r.o. Shiozawa | ggg | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | W38 N3 B1 L0 | 15 | |||||
| Total | 190 | All Out | 37 0vers | ||||
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A quick turnaround and the Sharks took the field looking to make early inroads into the Wyverns top order. Takady opened up from the embankment end and sent down a typical maiden full of pace, weight and bounce. Adit bowled tightly from the other end but was punished when he bowled too full. The batsmen safely negotiated the first 6 overs, not really giving any chances while keeping the scoreboard moving on at about 4 and over.
A change of tune for Captain Lollback and Dhugal came on to put the ball just short of a length to the useful looking Ueda. This brought the batsman out of his comfort zone and he got underneath one that went straight up between mid-on and mid-off. Ashiq called for it and was making stately progress towards the predicted splashdown area when Lollback thought he had the better chance, gave his deafening roar and ran back to get underneath the ball. It came in over his left shoulder, into his hands, had a bit of a skip around but then decided to stay put. A great catch on the move to start the wickets column moving.
Takady then sent back Mariko for a diamond duck when he swooped in from mid-off, and side armed a laser guided missile to destroy the stumps at the keeper’s end. It was fantastically dynamic work from the young gun which was almost identical to Freddy Flintoff’s famous run out of Punter some years ago.
From that point the Wyverns came and went in a steady stream of youthful endeavor and broken hopes. Dhugal continued to harass the batsmen with the occasional short one while Dave had the dogged Matsuchika caught behind from an absolute pearler through the corridor of confusion that just tweaked off the seam.
Meanwhile, the doors were shut and the windows fastened as Takady and Prashant cut off anything edged towards the slips while Ryo and Adeel let nothing past at cover and short cover. Zain showed a great arm down at fine leg turning 2s into scratchy singles. The fielding was suffocating the batsmen more than the heat and this brought about some rash strokes.
Zain put in three handy looking overs and was unlucky to beat the batsman, the stumps and the keeper on a couple of occasions. Anton helped him get the wicket he deserved by taking the catch of the season, or more precisely, his catch for the season, when Uehara curiously wafted one out to the square leg ring.
Dhugal made catching look easy at Silly Mid On before Adit did the merciful thing and put the Wyverns out of their misery with a blistering double wicket maiden to end the match.
| O | M | W/N | W | R | |
| T. Takada | 5 | 2 | 11/0 | 1 | 18 |
| A. Tallapragada | 5 | 1 | 1/0 | 3 | 14 |
| D. Bedingfield | 6 | 0 | 1/0 | 3 | 15 |
| D. Lollback | 3 | 1 | 3/0 | 1 | 6 |
| S. Abaden | 3 | 0 | 6/1 | 1 | 27 |
| M. Adeel | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 6 |
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Well that was the double done and dusted and the Sharks first back to back JCL1 victory since the halcyon days of 2010 when they won the Championship. An omen perhaps? Too soon to say but it’s been a hell of a long time since the 1st XI got used to winning. Still plenty of work to do, but the team continues to improve in fits and starts. Although the batting let itself down with what, on reflection, might be seen as rash shots, the bowling was relentless in pursuit of wickets and the fielding most improved with every catch taken. Many thanks to the Wyverns for a good game played in a good spirit and to the Adore Umpires who were impeccable.
