Doctors avert Danger

Now that I’ve recovered enough from last night’s antics, but not sufficiently enough to do anything useful with my day, I thought it’d be an excellent time to recap the events of yesterday.

Facing Danger Island, the Pitch Doctors made the trek out to Kianawah Park Ground 6 for the second week in a row, fielding a team vastly different to that of last week including several veterans in the likes of Raja Chinthamuneedi, Sachin Perera, Jo Corrigan and Anthony Whittle all making returns with young guns Matt Belford and Sooraj Prakash earning their first caps. Only one late change was made this week with Gus Douglas making way for Rishi Gupta.

In terms of a conditions report, the day was set to be the finest of days with the forecast of a leisurely 28 degrees with nothing but sun, the outfield had been let to grow and the grass looked notably thicker, and the pitch was… well the same, a firm green top, like every other synthetic pitch. Doctor’s captain, Rob Corrigan, won the toss and elected to bat.

Abbas Panju and Sachin Perera opened the innings but the partnership lasted a mere two balls when Perera scooped a half volley to mid-off departing for naught in his return game, bringing Belford to the crease. The partnership proved to have many laughs with the running between wickets leading to a few predicaments. Nonetheless the pair persisted before Belford bunted the ball to a deep mid-on.

Panju outlasted Jo Corrigan as well when he departed after a partnership full of luck, mainly towards Panju who in his innings was dropped at least four times. But the luck soon ran out as he went fishing without any footwork outside of off stump and edged the ball to a wide first slip.

The quick succession of wickets at this point was somewhat concerning but the new batsmen at the crease, Chinthamuneedi and Whittle, steadied the innings and built a solid foundation to bounce off in the final ten overs. Whittle fell shortly after the drinks break and Prakash was sent out to the middle. Together with Chinthamuneedi, the Doctors moved closer towards a respectable target before the big man set the ground alight, quickly moving past 50 and edging closer to his maiden ton.

Chinthamuneedi’s innings was a classic, with big hitting and finesse. However, on 95, with the century in sight, he hit the ball in the air (possibly going for glory, reports have not been confirmed) and was caught at mid-wicket, with two balls left in the innings. Gupta played a fine role at the end as he stood at the non-strikers end as Prakash closed the innings. The Doctor’s scoring the same total as they did last week, Danger Island needed 229 to win.

The bowling innings started strong with Shamsul Kazi and Rob Corrigan opening from either end. Both bowlers picked up early wickets, with Danger Island finding themselves four wickets down very early. Kazi went on to bowl seven straight holding down one end, a spell that while being expensive produced three early wickets and a direct hit run out from Perera at mid-on. After the initial bowling pair finished their spells, Danger Island were six wickets down and not in good shape. However, the Doctors failed to capitalise on their position and through a combination of errant bowling, dropped catches and powerful hitting, the Danger Island middle order were able to claw their way back into a position where victory was possible with a 100 run partnership.

In stepped Anthony Whittle, and like he has so often done, provided the breakthrough, a skidding off-spinner that knocked the stumps of the Danger Island captain out of the ground. Victory for the Doctors was still not assured as Danger Island still had hitters in the shed. Rob Corrigan reintroduced himself to great effect picking up a further two wickets and bowling a tight line and length to strangle the visitors. In the end it was Perera who sealed the victory with the final wicket, and some would argue he was the true man of the match when he emerged with a slab of the nectar of the south, the Victorian Bitter, after the game as the Doctors celebrated another victory, and started the May Ball festivities. Doctors win by 50 runs. Two from Two.

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