The most obvious of the ISL's few teething problems was on show tonight (Oct 28), as a busy week for college assignments left both sides no choice but to field just six players each. Thankfully, those who could take part put on a thrillingly close-run spectacle, with a fine bowling performance from Belgrove Eagles, despite the best efforts of Glenomena Giants' O'Brien and Downey to bat out the relatively low target of 70.
Having won the toss, Giants captain Daniel Poppleton opted to bowl first. The Eagles' innings got off to a decidedly wobbly start with Nagesh Yadav run out early for 1 in a mix-up with opening partner Jonathan Knox, who soon followed for 8 off the bowling of O'Brien.
The batting nightmare continued for Belgrove with captain Mustafa Haris run out for the same score in another example of poor calling between the strikers. Having steadied the ship somewhat with back wall fours and sixes, Adrian Huang became the third Eagle to be run out on the night, calling for a non-existent second run. An obvious symptom of having to adapt quickly to the indoor environment, to be sure, and one that can be excused on a side's first league outing.
A decent knock by Summanth before being bowled by Andrew Downey left Eagles on 69 all out from just 4.1 overs.
Glenomena began their innings tentatively, aware of the good fortune of having such a reachable target against the league favourites. With just three runs from Nagesh Yadav's lightning first over, it quickly became clear that they still had work to do to cause an upset. The runout of captain Poppleton for 4 in the second over seemed to compound this.
Martin O'Brien followed soon after, caught behind by Huang off an almost unplayable Nagesh delivery, but he had pushed the score along with a steady flow of fours.
Putting himself into the attack, left-arm seamer Haris set about dismantling the Giants comeback with a resigned determination. Ben Oslizlok was bowled for a duck, before Chris Sloane was sent on his way in exactly the same manner - but not until he had hit three valuable fours. Last man Andrew Downey fought manfully to close out the shock victory, getting into double figures despite needing to block over half of the deliveries he faced. His brave stand ended in the tenth over, bowled by Haris for a fine three-fer, all taking out middle and off.
Paul O'Hara
