(By: Nafis Ahmad,
Commonwealth C.C)
Dominica is the largest of the Windward Islands that adorn the Eastern Caribbean Sea. It is distinct from the Dominican Republic (as its people will vehemently point out), and is one of the many islands that share a French and British colonial past, reflective in the culture and sports that are played today in the country. Spartans is a famous club appellation applied to many teams in Dominica, the most famous being the clubs for cricket, football and netball. It is thus natural, for the Dominican contingent that calls Boston home, to call their cricket team “Spartans Cricket Club.” (SCC)
SCC hosted Commonwealth Cricket Club (CCC) for the first of their two meetings this year at Franklin Field II in Dorchester. Last year the two sides met twice and honors were shared equally among them, both teams winning at the home ground of the other.
Fazal won the toss and elected to bat. The now familiar right-left combination of Tariq and Basu opened the innings for CCC and were immediately greeted by the impressive pace bowling of Lazarus Joseph. The CCC openers started cautiously, until Tariq (16) lost his wicket to a short and rising Lazarus delivery, and holed out to Edwin. This brought the Fearsome Fazal to the fore - it was this very ground, and this very opponent, against whom Fazal compiled his mammoth 172. The anticipation was naturally high, once he got to the crease. Fazal started to play comfortably and then fluently, and he soon had SCC on the defensive with some forceful boundaries. He hit 22 runs in one over of Hinds but was not able to sustain the pace and succumbed to a top edge off of Augustine after making 38 of 32 deliveries.
This was a big boost for SCC, who moved in for the kill after Fazal’s departure, but were faced by cautious and effective batting of Ali and Basu. The latter had by now played himself into a comfortable position and was timing the ball very nicely. The pair put together a 99 run partnership, which broke the back of the bowling side. Ali departed to a caught behind, after making a solid 29. Nafis joined Basu, who had by now completed his half century (second consecutive one) and was now looking to punish the bowling. He hit 3 sixes and four fours in total, and finally succumbed to what looked like fatigue, after making 78 well made runs. He missed a chance to score his maiden hundred, as he had several overs to spare. As if by duty to carry on Basu’s mission, Nafis picked up where the veteran had left and immediately started to make use of the situation. He hit 4 fours and 3 sixes and completed a quick half century, and eventually ran himself out at 53 from 34 balls.
The rest of CCC batting, especially Dave Hoyle, continued the aggressive batting pattern set by the earlier batsmen, and CCC ended up with a very healthy 281 for 7 in the allotted 40 overs. It was almost as big a score as what CCC made last year against SCC, but this time contributions came from all around and not just an individual. This splendid display of batting, showed a glimpse of CCC’s imperious batting line up.
SCC started the run chase in a spirited manner - J Edwin recently compiled a century against UAA, and he carried his good touch into this game, and started to smash boundaries from the very start. He was not getting the support from the other end, as several batsmen lost their wickets to the hostile bowling of Fazal. SCC were 2 for 20 very soon, and A Edwin joined J Edwin. This was the best batting session for SCC where the two Edwins consolidated and had a good partnership, where they took SCC to 73, at which point J Edwin (53) departed after hitting some lusty boundaries. The rest of the batting revolved around the other Edwin, who batted well for his 36. After his departure, SCC collapsed to a score of 131 in 30 overs. CCC spinners, Ali and Natraj, bowled very well, with 3 and 4 wickets respectively. Mark Wright had 4 victims behind the stumps, and a few opportunities to take his tally to 5 or more. CCC fielding and catching was a mixture of the good, and the not so good; an extra pre-match catching session is in the forecast. Dave shone, as always, in the outfield with some breathtaking saves.
It was a resounding 150 run win for CCC, which was much needed, to re-establish the standard of play that was faltering at our last league match and the independence cup final. It is a timely return to form for several, as a relatively hectic schedule awaits us.