Nafis leads Commonwealth A from the front

by Soumendra Basu

Owing to the absence of top guns Fazal and Ali, vice captain Nafis took on his first captaincy role for Commonwealth A against Middlesex SC. The Commonwealth XI had an interesting mixture of old and new. Kiran Nataraj was playing in only his second game for the team, while Younis Chaudry was playing his last game in a long and distinguished cricket career in Massachusetts as a result of his impending move to Niagra, NY.

The day started as almost any other day in this long and dreary May; cloudy, windy and cold. The umpires, Mr. Jemmott and Mr. Butcher had second thoughts about the game, given that the run-ups appeared to be wet and it was not clear if they would hold up for the duration of the game. After a prolonged inspection and a delay, a 35-over game was on; a welcome decision for both cricket-starved teams. In the end it turned out to be an excellent call, especially since the run-ups exhibited very little damage at the end of the day.

As his first duty as captain, Nafis called correctly and chose to bat. The only concern was that Dave had to leave early to go to work, and there was a possibility that Commonwealth would be fielding a man short at the end. However, it later turned to be a non-issue, since several B-team members showed up and Vasif substituted for Dave when he had to go.

Basu opened the Commonwealth innings with debutant Kiran Nataraj, who did not have an opportunity to bat in his only previous game. Taking the strike, Kiran found the first four deliveries from Anton Alleyne to be so wide that they were almost off the mat. That probably explains the impatience with which he went for a big drive when Anton finally bowled one straight. However, the complete lack of pace of the ball in the air and an even slower bounce off the pitch made him mistime the ball, sending it skyward for Alvin Webster to take a juggling catch at backward point. Two overs later, Basu played early to another super slow Anton delivery and played all over the ball, which went through the gate and rearranged the timber.

Just like that Commonwealth was 8 for 2 and in walked skipper Nafis with Sai at the other end. The two took on the job of rebuilding the innings, with Sai being the aggressor and Nafis being watchful and playing himself in. It was obvious that Sai was seeing the ball well as he was cutting and pulling with disdain and driving forcefully from the sweet spot of his bat. It was a testimony to the nature of the very wet outfield that in spite of connecting well on numerous occasions, Sai scored 40 runs without the ball actually crossing the boundary before he was bowled by Maynard. However, he had more than done his job, taking the score to a respectable 101. Two quick wickets of Dave and Venkat followed, taking Commonwealth out of the comfort zone again. Luckily, Nafis was very well set now and he started going for the big hits with Qasim playing his trademarked one-handed tennis shots at the other end. A couple of well hit boundaries and a massive straight driven six by Nafis showed that not only his timing was back, but that he was also relishing his captaincy role. By the time Qasim was out, the score was 152, and Commonwealth was well on its way to a fighting total. Nafis kept going before finally being stumped off Webster for a very well made 73; a Captain’s Innings indeed! Again, the wet outfield and tight bowling by the Middlesex bowlers effectively negated the late charge in the death overs, and only Mark Wright could boast a strike rate of 200, having scored 2 runs off the only ball he faced. So after 35 overs, Commonwealth was 178 for 8, definitely a fighting total.

Commonwealth began the defense of their total with Dave getting the new ball. He started off remarkably by Franklyn edging his first delivery for Mark to take an excellent catch diving forward. The next batsman, Carl Maynard edged the second delivery of the inning for Nafis to grass a difficult chance at slip. With Sai moving the ball prodigiously at the other end, Webster and Maynard batted and battled well before Dave bowled Webster. Dave would soon claim his third wicket in the form of Patrick Burrow before he finished with excellent figures of 3 for 27 off 7 overs before racing off the field to attend to his real job. Meanwhile Sai finished with figures of 2 for 30 in his 7 overs, with Anthony Taitt throwing his bat around for some quick runs. Once the fielding restrictions were over, skipper Nafis brought on Younis and he made sure that his last Massachusetts game was memorable as he went on to collect 3 wickets for 32 runs. Meanwhile Qasim claimed the important wicket of Hackett, while Ambrish wrapped up the tail by having Searles stumped by Mark. The Middlesex batsmen were stroking the ball well, but they just lost wickets too regularly to seriously challenge the target. Ultimately, it was the lack of long partnerships by Middlesex that resulted in a fairly comprehensive 70 run win for Commonwealth. At the end of the game, Nafis gathered the team to pay a tribute to Younis and his contributions to Massachusetts cricket; a classy gesture indeed!

It was a good win for Commonwealth. It was gratifying to know that in spite of the absence of Fazal and Ali, games can be won. Nafis did an excellent job as a skipper, leading from the front in batting and rotating the bowlers effectively. The only negative were a few grassed chances, some by the skipper himself. Hopefully, this can be attributed to the early season rust, since as a team Commonwealth needs to hang on to their chances to be successful in this league. However, overall, there was little reason to complain and the entire team enjoyed the pizzas provided by our gracious hosts with that warm winning feeling.