It was looking like a good day for cricket, at least weather wise, as the sun was out, as the Pacific CC boys flittered in to the Hackney Downs park for this week’s friendly against the Journeymen CC.  The team had a lot of absences from the usual players and a new captain in Mohan, looking to make a difference with a depleted squad and replacement players.  In a sign of how the day was about to go, the 11:30 am start was moved to 12pm, as players from both sides were still arriving in trickles, just like the patches of overgrown grass in strategic areas on the ground (which made the game interesting, as it eliminated certain ground shots that would have easily crossed the boundary if not for them).

Mohan won the toss for Pacific, choosing to bat. The openers Tom Williams and Rahul Bhatt started quite sedately, until Rahul lost his wicket while trying to up the ante. The fall of the wicket brought Daniel Humphrey who looked in for something special with his strong leg side play. While Tom was bowled by a peach of a delivery from Axford, Mohan came in at no.4 and both Mohan and Daniel provided some impetus and fun to the innings, as the ball started going to different parts of the ground and 4s and 6s were seen. Mohan fell to the Journeymen CC’s bowling star of the day, Rudra Patel, who picked up 3 wickets in his spell and that brought about Tom Gane, who built another partnership with Daniel. However, after Daniel fell, again to Rudra, there was a mini-collapse on one end, while Tom held the other, steadying the ship and providing some entertainment towards the end with some good shots. 

When the dust settled, Pacific CC had 198/9 as a score from 35 overs. 

The Journeymen CC started with more flourish as the second over saw the first boundary of the Journeymen innings, however, the unusual ploy of starting with a pacer and spinner on one end by the Pacific CC captain Mohan reaped benefits as two quick wickets saw the visitors at 2-44 at the 10 over mark. After the ship was steadied a little, two more wickets fell in Tom Ganes’ over to bring the Journeymen CC to  4-69 by over 14. The lights dimmed and the clouds were looking to onset as Pacific tried to go for the kill, but it turned out to be the other way round as Kevin Varghese stood his ground and scored a brilliant 87 off 58 balls, spraying the Pacific CC bowlers all over the park and carrying his team over the line. All in all, in overcast conditions Kevin’s innings turned out to be the difference between the two sides as Pacific CC tried it’s best by pegging two more quick wickets, but losing steam at the end.

Milap Rane