Doctors Make It 2-0 In A Nailbiter
- Shamsul Kazi
- Oct 30, 2016
- 4 min read
Griffith Uni 10/102(19.4) Def By PDCC 9/103(20)
A Summers 24, S Prakash 3/14 (3), J Barker 3/23 (4) H Shahid 2/18 (4)
Well if this isn’t one for the history books then I’m not sure what counts. After coming off an easy win against Scott Mueller’s XI, the Doctors were confident heading into round 2 against Griffith Uni, a team that managed a mere 89 in their last outing.
Three changes were made to the team with opener Raja Chinthamuneedi as well as number three Kanishka Chaudhary unavailable for selection leaving the top of the order a little barer than normal. The loss of veteran Nathan Morgan compounded the problems, but the inclusions of Zemar Vajuhudeen and Sachin Perera at the number 1 and number 4 made up for the loss of the two batsmen and Sooraj Prakash re-entering the team to add bowling stock as well as being a handy lower order batter.
With the day set to be a big one, Captain Corrigan returned to his usual ways and lost the toss, but this proved to be a moot point as the Doctors were sent in to field, a decision that Corrigan says he would have made anyway. Tony Pham was designated as the bowling super-sub for the game.
The bowling attack then did a fantastic job to then keep the total to a minimum, with tight bowling and fielding that backed it up.
Now here’s where the fun begins. A discrepancy in the score book was picked up and notified to the umpire, after which a meeting with the captains occurred where it was decided that following Warehouse cricket rules, the total score calculated by the batting scorecard was to be the scored used, a total of 102, giving the doctors 103 to chase off 20.
The innings started off innocuously with a steady opening period between Panju and Perera. This lasted three overs before Panju edged one onto himself and then onto the stumps for 5. Another period of relative calm ensued before miscommunication between Jo Corrigan and Perera resulted in the runout of the former. Perera and Vajuhudeen (former high school teammates) then consolidated the innings before Perera was dismissed. Rishi Gupta came to the pitch and did a reliable job of turning over the strike to the in-form Vajuhudeen and the two brought the total up to a respectable half ton, with a comfortable victory in sight.
What ensued can only be described as chaos. Starting with Vajuhudeen who played errantly across the line, exposing his stumps, and followed by Shahid and Gupta and Prakash, a collapse of epic proportions befell. This brought Kazi to the crease, on a hat-trick bowl, with Andrew Summers down the other end and the score at 7-53. What Kazi didn’t want to hear from Summers were the following words “I’m feeling unwell, so I’m just going to go for it.” But that’s exactly what the big man said.
Having just witnessed an almighty fall from grace, the ending seemed inevitable. However, this is where the plot turns again. Go for it Summers did, and with the aid of Kazi the paired amassed a 40 (24 to Summers and 10 to Kazi) run partnership to bring the Doctors right back into the game. With two overs to go, a measly 14 was required.
Summers went one too many times and his heroic innings came to an end with 9 balls reaming, giving Kazi and Captain Corrigan the responsibility to finish the job.
With one over to go a meagre 7 runs was required, but on the first bowl of the over, Kazi made the smallest of connections with the ball and was caught behind.
Leaving Barker and Corrigan to meet the requirements. Barker successfully completed his role as he turned the strike over to the captain with a single; 6 runs off 4 balls.
Two dot balls. That’s right, two dot balls, as Corrigan found it difficult to get it away having just arrived at the crease. With excellent game awareness though, Corrigan left the next bowl for it to be called a wide. 5 runs, 2 balls.
What happened next can only be explained by some sort of divine intervention from a cricketing god. Corrigan connected with one to send a skipping ball out to cow corner, only for a fielder to be there, however, in a sick twist of fate, the ball twisted and turned and a spitting bounce resulted in the fielder conceding a boundary. 2 runs required from 1 ball.
Captain Corrigan on strike. Barker backing up at the non-striker’s end. Again Corrigan made contact and again it went out to the same fielder, it wasn’t going to get past him this time. But through excellent running from Barker to the danger end, he made it home with a full length dive, securing the win for the Doctors.
Earlier in the day, the usual pair of Shamsul Kazi and Rob Corrigan took the new ball. The pair bowled two apiece for no wickets but were economical. Hassaan Shahid was brought on to replace Kazi from the Wynnum Road end and had success straight away before bowling out his allotment in one go, finishing with figures of 2/18.
The middle overs proved to be a strong period for the Doctors as the combination of Tony Pham, Sooraj Prakash and Jordan Barker bowling line and length to choke the Griffith middle order, it paid off with the latter two picking up 3 wickets each. Rob Corrigan proved to be a ball magnet in the field as he caught the final wicket to take his tally to 3 for the innings.