July 25, 2020
Match Report - July 25 - 2020 Nanaimo 280-9 defeats Metchosin 201-10 The Cougars faced off against the up Island rival Nanaimo District Cricket Club. Throughout the recent matches these games have always showcased entertaining and at times controversial cricket. With what seemed like a stacked batting lineup the skipper was excited to use the coin toss victory run to put his squad in to bat for the first time since 2018. However, the heads call went the way of the opposition and the Cougars were in the field again! With Tanzil running on TST, Cocks was opening the bowling with Izak. They both found their length and had the NDCC openers struggling to get their rythm. The first wicket fell thanks to a sharp catch by Kevy down the legside off Cocks. The batsmen started to get some relief as the ball began to wear down on the rough outfield. Thankfully T & Rob found their lines and had two wickets fall around the 100 run mark. Again though, Kishan the keeper of runs steadied the innings for the away side and brought the score up past the 150 mark before Amit sent him off with a plumb LBW. The Cougars bowled and fielded as hard as they could, but the away side kept plugging away on the ultra quick ground and brought the score to 280. A par score on the MCG. The Cougars openers looked confident, with Dukey quickly dispatching the first ball of the innings for four, a sign of things to come? Unfortunately, he didn't pick the one on middle and was back in the sheds working on that English Tan while sipping a bevy. Noel & Himanshu then began the rebuild and quickly found their way as the fifty partnership accumulated. Unfortunately, Himanshu couldn't quite lift the slow bouncer past the fielder and headed off. Noel continued to work the ball around well and watched another partner quickly head to the sheds as Rob tested the sharp hands of the Nanaimo fielders. Cocks then entered the fray and looked to enjoy the bowling as his cut shots pounded the bowlers. Noel was then undone by the cheeky legside LBW, and tried to see how quickly he could go through a Cougar Pack while watching the collapse. Kevin and Cocks fell, then Izak and Amit as the scored came to 123-8. The skip and Tanzil then began the unthinkable as they played the ball around and tried to rebuild. The scores neared shy of 200 before Doug was using the bat handle to find the slips and the chase ended meekly as T tried to fight the wind, the pace and the timing, only to find the safe hands of another fielder, there ending the chase 79 runs shy of a victory. Although a second loss was had, the season is well and truly still open for the taking. The Cougars will face off against the Alcos on the holiday Monday for a much needed victory. Scorecard can be found here:https://www2.cricketstatz.com/ss/runreport2.aspx?club=23365&mode=100&match=259310