GRIFFINS vs Martians, GRIFFINS WON BY 28 RUNS

A spirited display with ball by Jimmy in the later part of the match coupled with poor shot selection by Martians gifted the match to Griffins by a whopping 64 runs. It was the valiant knock of 83 by Martians opener Mithun that kept the match alive. The victory was third for Griffins CC in as many matches and the defeat at John Ruskins extended Matrians’ wait to register their first victory in their debut season.

Griffins CC 213 all out (34.4 overs) Dileep 55, Fayiz 25 Josin 2/32 beat Martians 149 (27.4) Midhun 83, Kiji 19 Jimmy 5/22, Fayiz 2/14 by 64 runs

The weather has changed so has the behaviour of the cricket pitch. The first two weeks of UKMCL saw 5.5-ounce leather dominating the willow whereas once the sun shone through the cloud it was a different story. The placid wicket and lighting outfield made it little to do for the bowlers, although spectators agonisingly witnessed batters competing to throw wickets away and 42 balls were unused at the end. The game was evenly poised until Jimmy uprooted Josin for 9.

Mithun played one of the best innings in the league so far containing lusty boundaries to all part of the ground but ended up in a losing cause. The innings started with two ferocious pulls in the first over off Manu. Though he lost his partner in the second over at the other end he never seemed distracted. He blazed away the opposition captain next over with four boundaries on either side of wickets which leaked 19 runs. 32 runs in the first three overs set the tone for the chase and Griffins CC players felt the real heat under the scorching sun. After two expensive overs the captain tossed up the ball to the ever reliable Dileep who kept the captain’s faith with two wickets in two overs. Fayiz, at the other end, continued to bowl with heart and got rid of Arvind. Martian lost three quick wickets in a span of 29 balls for 22 runs which jolted their chase. While Mithun continued to attack the other end and found effortless boundaries as the Griffins bowlers provided width to play across in a pitch that offered little to bowlers.  At drinks Martians were 95 for the loss of five wickets and the match looked evenly poised since Mithun was in the middle.

It was a different game after the break as Griffins tried to keep Midhun off the strike to contain run flow ultimately got the reward when Joisin perished his wicket to an in swinger from Jimmy. Griffins King of Swing continued to attack with lethal in swingers. The frustrated Mithun eventually bowled by another beauty off Jimmy 17 shy of a well-deserved century. The dazzling knock was filled with 15 fours and six.

Jimmy was the pick of the bowlers returned with his maiden of five for in the 2016 edition of UKMCL.  Fazyiz and Dileep bowled brilliantly with the new ball amidst the onslaught of Midhun and scalped two top order wickets apiece that checked the run chase.

Of the 20 wicket fallen only one was caught by an outfield player reflects lack of adaptability of batsmen and playing across or away from the body. Midhun was very strong on the leg side whereas his counterpart Dileep played eye-catching shots on the square off the wicket by using the depth of the crease. The offensive field placing for the duo allowed them to play with free mind as hardly any fielder was on the catching position that helped them to milk the bowlers at will.

Earlier in the day, Griffins batted first for the third consecutive game and posted their highest score in the league. Dileeps fighting knock 55 rescued them from a stuttering position of 111/6 little after the inning break. The opening pair did not last long once Shaan trapped in front of the wicket for three. Jimmy promoted to number three but could see only whipping the bails off for a duck when Anooj poorly responded for the call and sent Jimmy back. Anooj, Manu and Stanlee all got off to starts yet failed to capitalize thus resulting to a sluggish 111/6 still some odd 90 deliveries to be bowl

The partnership of 61 runs between Dileep and Sudheesh rescued from a perilous situation and led to a defendable total. Both played attacking shots either side and kept the scoreboard moving. Dileep hit six hits to the fence while Sudheesh cleared the rope four times.  Both the batsmen fell while accelerating the score. But the late cameo by Fayiz pushed the total beyond run a ball target. Fayiz scored a useful 25 off just 13 balls which contained three fours and a massive hit over the long on and those runs down the order proved too much to ask for Martians.  By the end it was an emphatic victory for Griffins which maintained their 100 percent winning start to the season.

By Abdul Gafoor