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| v DODGERS, 1ST SEPTEMBER 2016 |
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SUPERSTARS BURGLED OF VICTORY. |
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London Olympics Super Saturday, The Rumble in the Jungle and
Sir Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile were until Thursday 1st September undoubtably the greatest
sporting events in the history of planet earth. Now they have competition in a story of evil, despair,
bravery, comradeship, determination and heartbreak. |
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The greatest sporting story ever told begins on the morning of
Thursday 1st September 2016 when Merv Aranha contacted the rest of Superstars to tell them some scumbag
had burgled his sister's house. Being a fine upstanding man Merv had to miss the game and the Superstars were
down to ten men before a ball was bowled. It was going to be uphill from here. |
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With John Carr captaining DOdgers there was a suspicion that
both sides may manage to lose the toss but Barry somehow won and elected to bat - a surprisingly wise move
with 10 men in the warm sunshine. Conway and Smith departed the scene relatively quickly to the hands of
one of a number of "Dodgers" who didn't seem to know any of their team mates but Anand and Gaught
rebuilt until Gaught was run out backing up by the fingertips of John Hilary. With Gigg and Plahe also
leaving relatively quickly it was left to Singh to keep Anand company which he did well. In the end Anand
was caught on the boundary for a well constructed 50 that kept his team in the hunt. With Singh and Duggan
thrashing at the end Superstars made 159-6 in their 35 overs on a wicket that was two paced and occasionally
popped - it felt a defendable total. |
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After eating Izzy's fantastic cakes the Superstars entered
the field low on players but high on sugar. Varghese and Singh opened the bowling well removing the
dangerous Dollin. With Forman and Plahe added to the attack Superstars fought like tigers and kept
chipping away at wickets but Dodgers felt ahead (I was fielding, so access to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern
to back up this feeling was unavilable). With Anand and Duggan added to the bowling attack the Superstars
got them themselves more into the game and when Singh and Varghese returned to complete their spells
further wickets fell. The committment in the field was shown by Gaught executing an excellent run out
as DOdger NJ cruelly, unsportingly ran out his partner rather than take responsiblity for his error.
Unfortunately it wa s a good decision as he and number 10 John Hilary inched towards the finishing line.
With 3 needed for the win (and a tie enough to secure the Ken Block Trophy for Dodgers) a film would have
plotted a remarkable Superstars victory against the odds. Conway, who had not bowled yet in the match,
was bought on to bowl in the one strange decision by the inspirational Gigg. The risk didn't work as
Hilary punished two semi-loose deliveries in three to guide DOdgers to the win, series triumph and
proof that the Ken Block Trophy is hard, real life not a fluffy film plot. |
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A great game. A brave Superstars performance. The loss can
quite squarely be blamed on a scumbag burglar (Aranha would surely have been the difference). And a new
pub post match which seemed popular. This may have been a loss but it was a great day to be a Superstar. |
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Team: Gigg (capt), Gaught, Conway, Smith, Anand, Plahe, Singh, Duggan, Varghese, Forman. |
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Author: Paul Gaught. |
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