Oxford Inter College Cricket League - I Match vs St. Hughes

The team had a good day's workout, though the result wasn't in our favor.

Fielding first, we restricted St. Hughes to 124 runs in about 33 overs (40 over a side match). The bowling was pretty good and considering it was the first match of season, it was a very good effort. Kartik was on-the spot most of the times and rocked the opposition's middle order with four wickets. Aditya, Shariq and Andrew all played good supporting roles.

We started the chase cautiously - myself and Ruz were told to stay out in the middle for as long as we could and blunt the new ball attack. It was cold out there with a strong wind blowing across. The bowling was seasoned and the opening bowlers gave very little away. The new ball was doing a little bit at the start and with the bounce they extracted from the pitch, it was difficult to play your shots - though we did manage a couple of boundaries between us; a delicate fine leg glance by myself and a super cover drive by Ruz. I was the first to get out (excellent catch by the bowler on his followthrough) with the score on 22 (7overs). Then, we lost a flurry of wickets and we were 5 down for just 40 runs. Kartik and Adi built up a small little partnership but once Kartik got out, it was all over for us. In the end, we managed to score 84. Not a good effort, more so if I tell you that we suffered 3 run outs! Add to that 3 super catches they took - their fielding was awesome.

The next match is with Cambridge day after tomorrow and the team is all geared up to win that match - we missed couple of our key players today, Rahul and Murtaza will boost our team on Saturday. We should win that one - I will keep you posted.