Gymkhana Trounced

(By: Nafis Ahmed, Commonwealth C.C)

Wrentham, MA is a town that lies in the shadow of Foxboro – the home of New England Patriots. The sporting heritage of Foxboro has had an influence on Wrentham, but in an entirely exotic way: Wrentham is now one of the serious Cricketing centers of Eastern Massachusetts. It owes its birth and flourish to Bikram Singh, who has carved out an amenable setting for cricket in Metro South.

Commonwealth assembled on a sunny Saturday morning to take on the home team, Boston Gymkhana. Some claim that there is a sporting rivalry between the two sides, however, every participant and spectator would admit that games between the two sides, although competitive, are always played in the best of spirits; a game against Boston Gymkhana is always a pleasure to attend. Commonwealth had suffered a defeat in their last meeting against the home team, and was determined to set the record straight; Gymkhana was determined to prove that they are not one-hit-wonders.

Commonwealth performed their new-found, pre-match athletic rituals, and jogged, limbered, and flexed, alongside some light fielding drills. Fazal won the toss and in true Commonwealth tradition elected to bat. Basu opened with Natraj, but was back after reaching double figures. Ali, uncharacteristically, and to the great delight of the bowling side, was out to a brilliant piece of stumping on a drifter from Purvin. Parak Ananta is a great find for Gymkhana, as he showed swift and clean glove work behind the wickets through out the innings. Fazal joined Natraj and immediately took control. He compiled a quick 33 in 18 balls, adorned with some sixes, but was caught on the boundary, trying to emulate himself. Disappointment was written on his face, as he walked back knowing that he missed a chance to compile a big one. Natraj on the other end was quietly compiling a good score, as he saw several batsmen come and go, while he chipped away with neatly placed singles, and plenty of doubles. He held the Commonwealth innings together and scored his highest score for Commonwealth (75) to date. Commonwealth has a strong batting line up and the lower order shone that day with some good hitting, and healthy scoring rate. Ghazanfer was stumped twice by Ananta - he was called back the first time in a great sporting gesture by the diminutive wicketkeeper, who showed his stature as a taller sportsman. Lusty hits from Sameer, Mark and Ghazanfer, and some errant bowling, with plenty of extras (36) from Gymkhana, helped Commonwealth to a healthy total of 221. It was commanding batting performance from Natraj and the lower order, with the strong middle order not making much of an impact.

Gymkhana started disastrously with Vasu needlessly run out. Prashant the former Commonwealth opener played some good backfoot shots before being mysteriously bowled by a Sai speacialty – an outswinger that starts outside leg, and swings in to clip the wickets - we are not sure if it is a feature or a bug. Sameer produced a hostile spell of bowling but remained unlucky to take any wickets. But it is this type of bowling that inspires confidence in his captain – he was aggressive, accurate and athletic throughout his spell. No Gymkhana batsman made any impact barring Ananta who compiled an efficient 41. Mark Wright’s work behind the wickets was, as always, a treat to watch. Of late what Mark has gained in girth, has not lost in agility. Gymkhana was packed in 30 overs with a total of 120, and Commonwealth recorded a 100+ run victory to settle the score with the home side.

As ever, Gymkhana feted us with a great home cooked meal. It was a nice end to a good day of cricket. Bikram, confessed that they came up short on the goods, but promised a good game, the next time we meet. We can’t wait!!!