FINAL TWO GAMES OF TOUR
As the tour comes close to the finish it is amazing to reflect on the magnitude of what we have enjoyed over the past two weeks. India has been a huge cultural and sporting experience that will live with us for the rest of our lives.
The second game of theGoa leg of the trip took place at the Arlem Breweries Ground. Much to the disappointment of Roger Bell, the brewery itself is no longer there, so the much-anticipated brewery tour and sampling session did not take place. The Grasshoppers won the toss and decided to bat on a slow wicket, but unfortunately produced their worse batting performance of the trip. There was some bad luck, but generally, poor shot selection and lack of application contributed to a final total of only 95.The one batsman to emerge with credit was Ray McCavery, who continued his fine tour with another hard fought 30, but sadly on this occasion he lacked support from the other batsmen.
But once again the bowlers refused to give up the cause, and far from throw in the towel, the team then gave its best bowling performance of the tour. Carlo Rendell and Andrew Nixon both bowled excellent opening spells, with Nixon being particularly impressive finishing with figures of 3 for 18. They were ably backed up by Neil Watson, the veteran South African turning in yet another excellent performance with 3 for 26 in his 8 overs. We were defending a small total and the odds were always stacked against a victory, but had a couple of chances gone to hand we might have sneaked it. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, there were not enough runs to play with, and Arlem finally ran out winners by 4 wickets.
The batting figures we’ll keep for another day, but the bowling figures were;
Carlo Rendell 5-2-15-0
Andrew Nixon 4-0-18-3
Neil Watson 8-2-26-3
Cameron Greive 7-0-32-0
PLENTY OF HEAT INVASCO CITY
For the final game of the trip the Grasshoppers travelled back to the Vasco Cityground. Fortunately since our visit on Monday the outfield had been watered, which greatly reduced the amount of dust that was blowing about. There was plenty of amusement when we heard from home that it had been snowing! It was certainly not snowing in Vasco, as the temperature rose to almost 40 degrees centigrade and humidity reached 83%. We were baking!
Lee Nelson had almost completely recovered from his ankle injury, so he was appointed captain for the day. He won the toss and thinking positively he decided to bat. The captain led from the front when he opened the innings and initially received good support from Andrew Cowden and Mark Nixon. Despite his layoff Lee was in superb form, racing to 48 before unfortunately he mistimed a drive to mid-off and was out caught. But despite his departure, he had given us a great start with the total at 81 after only 13 overs. However, the game then swung against us with the introduction of two quality spinners and over the next ten overs our scoring came to a complete standstill with only 10 runs being registered.
It took a fine 50-runs partnership between Ray McCavery, yet again, and Alan Waite, to rejuvenate the innings and reach a respectable total of 138 for 7 at the end of the allotted 30 overs. The match was not without its incidents. Waite and Robert Kennedy were run out in bizarre circumstances. Batting with a runner after suffering another hamstring injury, Alan could only stand helplessly at square leg as a drive from Ray McCavery was diverted onto the stumps at the non-strikers end, leaving his runner Robert Kennedy out of his ground. Robert was heading back to the pavilion before he realised that he was next man in, so he quickly turned back to have another go, only for to be run out himself two balls later!
But we had posted a useful total, so it was match on, or so we thought.
The opening attack of Peter Maxwell and Andrew Cowden both bowled well, with Maxwell returning 2 for 17 in his 5 overs. The introduction of Paul Stafford and Neil Watson further increased the pressure, and at the half way stage the Grasshoppers appeared well in the game with only 56 runs on the board. But immediately after the resumption, the two Salgankar batsmen took complete control with a partnership of 80 runs in less than 10 overs. Both were good batsmen who attacked the spinners and ran beautifully between the wickets without ever giving the hint of a chance. In the end we were well beaten, but overall it was a creditable performance given the quality of their slow bowling and their talented middle order batsmen
REVIEW TO FOLLOW
A final record of Played 8 Won 2 Lost 6 may not look all that impressive in playing terms, but it could easily have been Won 4 Lost 4. The loss of the second game in Delhi was a major disappointment with the last pair putting on 40 runs to beat us, and we were well on top chasing 200 in Mumbai before our batting stumbled and we lost 7 wickets for only 20 runs. Such are the fickle fortunes of this wonderful game, but like all Grasshoppers tours, the spirit and camaraderie of friend and foe are much more important than results that are all too easily forgotten in years to come.
This has been a great experience and as we prepare for the long journey home, we’ll take time to send a complete tour review for the Ulster Cricketer readers who we hope have enjoyed our reports.
Watch this space!
