31st August 2010

SKK - 257 all out off 49 overs, defeated Bengal Tigers - 160 all out off 39 overs, by 97 runs.

SKK surged to second place on the SM50 ladder after a solid performance versus Bengal Tigers last Saturday in Ruskeasuo.  Late umpires again delayed the start to the match as SKK were sent into bat in good conditions. 
The first ball from left-armer Saiful Islam, an unintentional full-toss landed in the keepers gloves on the full - not something that most openers like to face first up to wean off the nerves - yet the second ball was a peach of an inswinger trapping Madhu on the full and fairly adjacent for a golden quacker. Jonathan S. in his first SM50 match for the season joined Dodgy and was keen to get amongst it, the first ball of Saifuls second over, was his second full toss and last one for the match as Bengal obligingly pulled him from the attack.  That aside, however, Jonothan and Simon scooted along at 5 runs an over, playing deliveries on merit, exploiting a lacklustre field with easy singles and overthrows and putting away poor deliveries. Jono, the more dominant strokemaker of the pair, looked in great touch by the time he brought up his 50 just after the drinks break and would have been a touch dissappointed not to go on and make a bigger score when he was caught for 66.  At 114-2 in the 25th over the platform had been laid with a season high partnership for the second wicket of 112.  Tatu joined Dodgy and continued to push the score along with some crisp shots and good running between the wickets against the spinners. The pair put on another 30 runs for the thrid wicket by the 31st over before Simon (39 runs) was caught trying to increase the scoring rate.  In a similar style Rajesh and Tatu put on another fluid 26 runs before Tatu (28 runs) again succumbed leg before wicket in the 36th over with the score on 170-4.  Rajesh was joined by yours truly and we kept the scoreboard rattling along, passing 200 in the 40th over and setting ourselves up for a thrash at a score of 270 or more. We took the batting powerplay in the 43rd over boshed 22 runs off the 44th and 45th overs and then lost 3 wickets in the 45th over - myself (40 runs) chipping a catch to the onside, Rajesh (29 runs) holing out to the straight boundary fielder (29) and Sebastian also skied a catch for a duck - and we were now 235-7.  Kari (9 runs) slapped a few boundaries before being trapped in front in the next over.  Then Janne (4 not out) tried to wag the tail with Yathu (bowled for 6 runs) and Bikal (run out for a duck), but to no avail as SKK fell short of a bigger target and were all out for 257 in 49 overs.

A forgettable 14-run first over from your trusty leading-from-the-front and thoroughly out of practice skipper, described later by his vice-captain as "looking seasick", wasn't the best start to defending the target. However by the 4th over Madhu had outfoxed Shaqil by a crafty and lengthy reassemblage of the slips and gully cordons before the batsmen obliged and edged to Dodgy at second leaving the Tigers at 23-1.  After the 8th over with Tigers 33-1, I brought Sebastian on to replace my struggling efforts (0-26 off 4) and tight bowling from Madhu and Seb and tight fielding from SKK saw the runs start to dry up. Seb had bowled 2 maidens in 4 overs and Madhu finally broke through again in the 16th over removing the other opener with a fantastic diving caught off his own bowling.  Madhu's 18-2 in 8 overs straight was a sensational spell of fast bowling and had the Tigers in a little trouble going into drinks 53-2. However, with opposition captain and talisman, Tito, at the crease Bengal were still in with a sniff, until the lanky lad pulled both a rare loose short-ball from Seb for 6 and his hamstring (or was it bad cramping) and had to retire hurt.  Bengal Tiger's Osman and Saiful started to take to Yathu and Seb, before Yathu (31-1 off 6) had the last laugh knocking over Saiful with a beauty through the gate leaving them 86-3 in the 22nd. Seb (37-0 off 8) who bowled 8 good overs straight was unlucky not to pick up any wickets, and Bengal had crawled to 118-3 at the end of the 28th through Osman and Aminul. However it seemed the spin pair of Dodgy and Rajesh had a little more luck, with Dodgy striking with a double wicket maiden in the 28th when Yathu took a well-judged skier at mid-wicket and then yours truly held onto a flick at deep square leg, before Rajesh joined in with a wicket maiden in the 29th over with Kari pouching the easiest of catches at slip.  Bengal Tigers had slumped to 118-6 at the 30th and another stunning diving catch by Jonothan off the bowling of Rajesh two overs later virtually sealed it for SKK. The tail, joined ultimately by the brave Tito, thrashed a few boundaries and sixes to make the score respectable before succumbing to Dodgy (25-4 off 7) and Rajesh (21-3 off 5) lbw and caught respectively to be all out for 160 in the 39th.

A strong performance by SKK with the bat, despite falling a few runs short, and in the field, taking all the catching opportunities despite being a little scrappy on the ground. With the exception of a jet-lagged skipper, all bowlers performed well and we are gathering good form at the right end of the season.  With Espoo A, Helsinki and then Vaasa in successive weeks, we now have to win these to claim top spot!

FPC vs SKK 19.6.2010

After some threatening forecasts during the week, the weather proved to be surprisingly good. The Ruskeasuo ground looked a little damp on the surface but in very good shape otherwise. Our new mat had played well during the T20 game on Tuesday and consistently, if a little bouncily during the Friday net session. In all, it looked like a bat-first sort of day.

Nadeem of FPC won the toss, however, and decided to have a bat. We were down to ten men and did not look too strong in the batting, so I thought that we would have to restrict them to under 200 to have any chance of winning. The first two overs by cousins Madhu and Bikal did not promise too much: plenty of extras and 15 runs on the board. What happened after this was pretty incredible.

The new mat and ground softened by the rain of the previous night made batting extremely difficult. There was swing on offer and much more seam movement than usually. Especially outside the off stump balls were really kicking up. If pitched on the stumps, the ball was often jagging in. To our delight, Madhu (3-30) and Bikal (4-32) made great use of the conditions by bowling straight and on a very good length. After Bilal's mistimed pull was brilliantly caught by Yathu on the fine leg fence, wickets started to tumble and runs were hard to come by. By the tenth over we had FPC 4-21 and looked to be destroying them.

Enter Mubashir. After a few overs of defending, Mubashir started hitting out. Balls flew to and over the boundary between square leg and long on on a regular basis. Especially harsh treatment was dealt out to Raj and Yathu, without either one bowling all that badly. Mubashir's 86 off 47 balls changed the complexion of the game even though wickets kept falling at the other end. Dodgy and myself finally managed to get Muba and the tail out, but not before FPC had made 146 runs. Our catching was on the whole quite good with Dodgy and Sushil hanging on to beauties, but the ground fielding left a lot to be desired. We all agreed that we probably handed them at
least 30  runs on a platter. However, 146 felt like an excellent effort.

After a ten-minute turn over Dodgy and Madhu headed in to bat and soon found out why FPC had struggled. With Bilal (3-26) and Mubashir (4-19) bowling good lined and getting good movement off the wicket, wickets started tumbling soon. Dodgy got a beauty from Bilal and was caught behind, Tatu played across his pads after a confident looking start and Sushil nicked one behind. Before the lunch break Madhu, who had looked untroubled, as well as Rajesh joined the procession back to the shed and we looked dead and buried at 5-30 after 13.3 overs.

When I walked out in to the middle after the break with Janne, Janne said something about getting to 60 before the 20th over. I thought we would be fortunate to make it to either of the two. Fortunately, the ball was getting softer and the opening bowlers a little weary. Janne started off really brightly with a couple of fours but was soon unluckily bowled chopping the ball onto his stumps. When Jon L. and Bikal came and went, we were 55 for eight in the 22nd over. Last man Yathu came in looking as
nervous as you would expect. 

We set about just staying alive and being a nuisance to the FPC players. All I had in mind at this point was to not give my ex-team mates the satisfaction of getting me out. Yathu seemed to have similar ideas so we just blocked anything on the stumps, left or missed balls outside the off stump and tried to hit the bad balls. I don't think either of us thought much about winning the game until we passed 100 and started to notice that FPC were getting nervous. As the required run rate was only around three an over, there was really no pressure to get runs at any point. And suddenly we were in the last five overs and winning the game seemed completely possible. Yathu hit a four of the last ball of the 47th over to tie the scores and a wide off the fourth ball of the second last over sealed a famous win and kept SKK in the title race. Yathu ended his brilliant rearguard innings on 28 and I had somehow managed to get to 54. FPC were
left to rue bowling their two most potent bowlers out early on, as well as some shoddy fielding, including dropping a simple catch off Yathu.

The game ended our early season run, which featured one clear win over Vaasa, two victories snatched from the jaws of defeat against FPC and Bengal Tigers, as well as a tight loss to FPC and a bit of a pounding from Helsinki. After half our games played, we are just one win behind the leaders Helsinki and everything is still possible. The next SM50 games are in late July so we have plenty of time to fine-tune skills to challenge Helsinki and Espoo who look like the front-runners early on.

By Kari Turunen

Open T20 - Tuesday 1st June at Ruskeasuo
Vantaa Super Kings all out 140 in 19.5 overs
SKK 143 for 6 in 19.3 overs

Running late to an unprepared ground at Ruskeasuo last Tuesday evening wasn't one of the best starts to the first game of the T20 competition as captain. Particularly as the toss was automatically handed to VSK who elected to bat first and with Fahad and Rhanja smashing our opening attack of Madhu (0-21 off 2) and Seb (0-18 off 2) and then the second change of myself and Yathu to all parts of Ruskeasuo.  VSK had amassed 70 off the first 7 overs and SKK were staring down a score of 200 until an awesome direct hit from Jon L at long on ran out the dangerous Fahad and turned the game back in our favour. Yathu bowled a really tight eigth over for only 3 runs (finishing with 0-12 off 2 overs), before Dodgy had Rhanja stumped in the ninth over.  Dodgy went on to pick up two more wickets, both caught, in the 11th over to have VSK stumbling at 85 for 4.  With Rajesh S. (0-16 off 4 overs) keeping the pressure on at the other end with his probing offies, Dodgy again picked up the key wicket of Junaid with a simple return catch in the 13th over and bowled an outstanding spell of 4-12 from 4 overs. Kari (1-14 off 2 overs) also chipped in with a wicket (caught) in the 17th to have VSK 108 for 6, yet Abbas stiffened the SuperKings tail with some big shots off the last few overs before I cleaned up in the last couple of overs (3-45 off 4) to leave VSK all out for 140 in 19.5 overs.

Madhu and Dodgy continued where they left off from the SM50 building a rapid opening stand of 44 before Madhu (19 off 14 balls) spooned a catch to long off in the 5th over.  Dodgy and Tatu kept up the attack, playing some exquisite drives and cuts and pushing to total to 66 in the 8th over, before Dodgy was stumped (27 off 20 balls) trying to loft the off-spinner Razi.  The SuperKings spinners also began to tighten the screws on SKK and we were 87 in the 13th before Junaid struck having both Tatu (22 off 25) and Jon L. (8 off 12) caught.  Rajesh and myself kept the score ticking over pushing the score to 102 before he was run out (10 off 9 balls) trying to squeeze a quick single in the last ball of the 15th over. With 38 to get off 30 balls, Sebastian and I took 13 runs off Fahad's last over, but could only manage 2 runs off Waqas in the 17th. Sebastian, however, was unfortunately run out (9 off 8 balls) in the 18th when I pushed an impossible two as a skied slog fell between long on, long off and the bowler.  With Kari and I in at the end of the 18th over we were 126 for 6 needing 15 runs off the last 2 overs.  Waqas bowled the penultimate over, but we had fortunately hit 9 runs off it to leave only 6 required off Junaid's last over to win. After a wide no-ball, a well run two and a quick single it was left to Kari (7 off 8 balls) to edge a four through the vacant slips to bring forth victory for SKK! 

A great effort from SKK.  The spinning troupe of Rajesh, Kari and Dodgy certainly put us in a great position to be able to chase down the total, despite some nervous middle-order jitters.  Our fielding was also really good, with only one-dropped catch coming to mind.

SM 50 - Saturday 29th May at Ruskeasuo
SKK 162 all out in 42.4 overs
Helsinki CC 165-3 in 27.2 overs

To be fair SKK have had stronger batting line-ups on paper in the past, yet on a cool and cloudy Saturday morning at Ruskeasuo there was no denying that this SKK team wanted to have a crack at a strong Helsinki line-up full of FCA national team stars.  After winning the second coin toss as captain, I elected to bat and since no team in SM50 in 2010 has yet batted out their full 50 overs the challenge was laid out to the SKK lads to step up and bat out the full over allocation.

A new SKK SM50 combination of Madhu and Simon (Dodgy) kicked off proceedings and as they started the rain did too. The umpires, batsmen and fielders unperturbed by the showers, continued, but for Madhu and Dodgy, it was like they had been opening together for years as both saw off Helsinki's new ball combination with relative ease, let the cricket do some talking to some of the chirpier Helsinki fielders, and were untroubled even by the rain by the 10th over with 39 on the board.  Unfortunately a freakish combination of events had Madhu (26 off 30) run out. Madhu straight drove a ball that ricotched off Dodgy's retreating bat at the non-striker's end and bounced away to a diving mid-off. Madhu setting off for a single was turned back by Dodgy, who was under the assupmtion that you don't go for runs once the ball hits you. In the confusion, the diving Zaki at mid-off took the ball cleanly and from the ground threw straight to the keeper with a returning Madhu out by metres. The rain by this stage had been quite steady and I was lucky to stay upright let alone survive the remaining two skidding deliveries from Amin's over, which convinced me to ask the umpires that we leave the field.  Covers (and car) went on the pitch and we returned to the clubhouse and cafe to see off the rain.  After an hour, though the sun had returned to the skies and it was time to get back on with a (then) rain reduced 47 overs match.  Dodgy and I returned and had put on another 32 to take us to 71 after 19 overs, before he fell to Bhaskar slower ball that had him trapped in front for a steady and patient 25 (off 57).  Rajesh and I then continued to negotiate Oba's ripping leggies and Vicky's nagging seamers to take the total to 114 in the 27th.  As Rajesh and I felt more comfortable at the crease we had at least a 200 plus score in our sights until I (the 3rd wicket) fell, also to a sucker punch slower ball from Bhaskar unconvincingly prodded to a diving Vicky at cover for 35 (off 50).  Sushil joined Rajesh and took the score to 129 for 3 in the 33 over before rain once again intervened. This time, however, the game was only delayed by 20 minutes, but it had now reduced the overs to 44 - which still gave us a target of 200 as a reasonable mark.  Yet shortly after the resumption in the 36th over, Rajesh was unfortunately run out in a mix-up that left Rajesh stranded at the non-strikers end for a well-compiled 20 (off 46).  This sparked a collapse with two more wickets falling in the over from Oba. Sushil was bowled by beautifully flighted full delivery (8 off 29), and after being slapped for 4 by Jon, Oba took his revenge with his trademark quicker ball through the big Aussie's defence. Two overs later Sebastian also succumbed to Oba struck in front for 1 and SKK were reeling in the 38th at 7-145.  In combination with Yathu, Janne (12 off 18 balls) added some lusty blows of his own to edge to score up to 158 in the 41st before he was bowled by Bhaskar trying to regain the strike for the next over. The tail admirably wagged, but both Yathu (8) and Lucky (0) were caught trying to hit out in the final overs and SKK were all out for 162 in the 43rd over.

A short lunch was taken, and SKK required wickets.  Sebastian almost beat his previous effort against FPC with the first ball of his over as Zaki shouldered arms to an awesome inswinger that struck him in front, yet a little high, as the umpire resisted SKK's vociferous appeal. The next ball was slashed over gully's head and with these two deliveries, it appeared that perhaps lacky luck wasn't going to be on our side. Like Seb, I had beaten the bat a few times, but without luck, couldn't buy a wicket, and to be fair we bowled far too many loose deliveries between us. Helsinki were getting away to a flyer, before a bowling change with Madhu and Jon at second change helped us back into the match.  Zaki had skied one from Jon L's first over to cover point, where Sushil took the most extraordinary catch running and diving backwards to take the catch behind his head, while still holding onto it as he slammed into the ground (it was a classic and courageous effort from the young lad).  Within the next three overs, however, Madhu picked up the second wicket as Jon L. took spectacular one-handed catch at mid-on.  The circumstances rather ironic as Madhu had put down a regulation chance at mid-on from Jon L's previous over (I think Madhu owes Jon L. a beer at the Aussie).  Madhu also chipped in to claim the third wicket as Dodgy also took a nice catch at mid-off and SKK were clambering back into the game as Helsinki slumped to 3-80 off about 15 overs.  Rajesh and Dodgy came on as Zahid and Vicky were starting to settle, yet they batted extremely well to the drinks break hitting the bad balls to the boundary, running singles and lifting Helsinki back into pole at drinks in the 22nd taking the score to around 115.  After the drinks SKK required quick wickets, so Seb and Madhu came back on with an attacking off-side field to try and force a wicket, however both Vicky and Zahid saw them off to the end as Helsinki passed our total in the 27th over without so much as a flashing blade here and there.

It was a disappointing finish for SKK, but ultimately we didn't have a big enough total to defend and our bowling was a little poor as went pushed to take wickets. Although I was happy with the batting since we had a few top order partnerships, the down side was that the top 4 made starts, but none of us went on with it and then the lower order collapsed. Our fielding was fantastic with lots of energy and effort, but our bowling, except for Madhu and Jon L. lacked penetration and needed wickets.  It is only the third match of the season, but lets hope we can get back our winning ways against Vaasa in Tampere in two weeks time.

Bengal Tigers vs SKK, Leppävaara 23rd May 2010, SM50 match

On a grey morning after a week of brilliant summer weather, an SKK consisting of both experienced campaigners and fresh faces showed up in Leppävaara to marvel at the ground with the what must be the shortest square boundaries of the league year. As it later proved, thanks to a
sub-standard pitch, these boundaries proved sufficiently large due to the fact that any cross-batted shots were fairly impossible to play on a pitch that saw sticky bounce, seam movement, popping balls, balls that kept low and, at times, completely normal bounce.

Fortunately I won the toss and my premeditated decision to bowl first was possible. Although the first three overs went for 29, the decision seemed correct. Especially Jon Lawless had the ball talking - at least on the deliveries that landed on the mat. The wayward stuff was redeemed by an
early wicket after a ball off an outside edge was parried within my reach by Janne. After the wicket BT had their two best batsmen in and despite disciplined bowling by Madhu and Seb the two dug in and it looked like we were in for a normal innings in the field. Madhu managed to remove the two
before drinks in his spell of (2-??) while Seb bowled an immaculate line and length, only to be denied several wickets by slippery fielders' fingers. At the break BT were 3-?? and we felt we were on top.

What happened after the break was amazing. Raj came on to bowl his offies. From the way the Tigers played him, someone suggested that off-spin was apparently seen for the first time in Espoo. Raj's good line and full length was rewarded by a five-wicket haul (6-14) and one wicket came off a bizarre run out with the batsman taking off after the ball had gone off Janne's gloves to slip. The Tigers ended up on what we thought was a well below-par total of 92 after 27.1 overs. The SKK
fielding was pretty good, some excellent catches were taken, albeit a few too many put down. The youngsters Sushil, Sam and Yathu were full of energy in the field.

After a quick turn-over Tatu and Sushil went in to start off our run chase. All looked good, even if the Tiger's opening bowler was getting some extreme bounce from the wicket with the new ball. Tatu looked solid and played the shot of the day when cutting a short, wide ball beautifully to
the point boundary. But when Tatu went back to a short-of-a-length delivery that stayed low and was LBW, all went haywire. Sushil hit some lusty blows in his 14 but was soon caught at mid-off trying to clear the fielder, which followed by fall of quick wicket. Simon got out LWB,Madhu was caught driving and Rajesh, Janne and Kari all bowled by balls that moved off the seam. Seb apparently had another plan and played excellent inning with Jon and Yathu and help SKK winning the match. 

Man of the match, no surprises were there Rajesh Singh got it for his 6.1overs - 14Runs - 6 Wickets bowling.

The SKK socialists played a Empire team on a perfect summer
day on the 15th of May. The 35-over game attracted a good group of SKK'ers
with a couple of debutants in its line-up.

Having won the toss, SKK decided to bat and put 241 runs on the board for
the loss on 9 wickets. Top scorers were the captain Kari who retired after
a patient 50, Andrew Tadd with a very fluent 39 and Sushil with an
aggressive 20-odd. Almost everyone chipped in against bowling that varied
from good to dreadful, quite often in the same over.

The game was pretty much over after the first innings but some of the
Empire batsmen showed good powers of concentration. One belligerent
late-order 50 with excellent biffing put a little pressure back on SKK but
in the end Empire fell some 70 runs short of their target. The highlight of
the Empire batting was young SKK'er John Paul's first chance to bat in a
game. Although the experience was painful (hit in the body with Yathu's
first ball) and short-lived (bowled second ball), the grin on the young
man's face said it all when the fielding team crowded him to celebrate his
maiden innings. The picks of the bowling were Jon Lawless who took out the
top order with some straight and uncomplicated bowling and Yathu who
cleaned up the tail. JonO wiped away unpleasant memories from the first
league game by bowling a very tight spell when the pressure was at its
highest. Almost everyone rolled their arm over - most without suffering too
much punishment.

In all, a good outing for the Socialists.

.

Saturday 8th May
SKK: 9-176, 30 overs, defeated by FPC: 7-177 off 29.1 overs.

It was rather surprising that any cricket got underway on Saturday considering: 1) the amount of rain that chucked down on Friday, 2) the state of the Ruskeasuo ground on Saturday morning and 3) the ominous forecast of more rain and 5 degree maximum on Saturday. However, with productivity like there was a war on, a bunch of cricket-starved, winter-ravaged SKK'ers, desperate for a game, pitched in with brooms, scrapers, shovels, buckets of sand, bicycles, and the old mat and wire mesh strapped to Janne's tow bar, to remove the surface water (or at least mix it into the earth). After three hours of work, the ground, although still resembling no-man's land on the Western Front during a lull, was declared by Anzar (the umpire) fit to play on for a rain-reduced 30-over match.

After winning the toss, I decided to bat, hoping that the rain would stay away and thinking the ball will be more difficult to bowl with in the first innings. Jonathan O. and Tatu strode as the first opening combination of the season and after seeing off the first few overs for 13 runs on the board, Tatu (2 off 6) got a coconut mat welcome, as a half-tracker from Mubashir shot through to strike him just above the ankle and plumb in front. October, confident after striking a few boundaries also came undone (18 off 22) to the low and slow nature of the pitch as another half-tracker from Mubashir struck him adjacent with the stumps as our big South African shaped to p it square.  Shortly after, Pete (1 off 5) got a rather unplayable inswinging, leg-stump yorker from Bilal and we were wobbling at 3-19 after 7 overs.  Under the pump from the FPC quicks, Rajesh and I dug in, treating anything short and on a length with extreme caution on such a slow, low and unpredictable pitch.  Yet, after seeing off the quicks we both started to gain confidence and capitalise on the second change bowlers.  Full deliveries, no-ball free hits, and wide balls were dispatched, while errors and a general mud-infused lethargy in the field allowed us to sneak runs and get back into the game. By drinks we had recovered to 3-75 and at this point we set 170-180 as a target. After the break, however, we lost wickets in regular succession; Rajesh (36 off 39) was struck in front on the full (for a promising 36 off 34 balls), Janne (3 off 14) was caught off Kashif trying to get a move on, and Madhu (7 off 5) after looking confident was unnecessarily run out. At 6-107 in the 21st, Sebastian, however, took 1 ball to get his eye in before heaving a massive six and a four in succession to dismiss any of my worries about posting a competitive total.  I took the power play and within the 3 overs Seb had almost single-handedly powered us from 123 to 153 before he was bowled in the 26th over for 22 off 13 trying to launch Nadeem into Helsinki Central Park again.  I had followed soon after skying one to gully (64 off 60) with the total on 164.   Kari (6 not out) ably guided the tail, rotating the strike to Jon (7 off 5), who thrashed one the boundary before being knocked over trying a similar shot. Kari also scrambled a couple of runs in the last over with Yathu (0 not out) to push the total to 9-176 from the alloted 30 overs.

During the quick lunch break, we felt rather confident of defending this total. Sebastian gave us the perfect start castling Waseem for a duck in the first over of the innings.  Madhu (0-16 off 3) and Seb (1-25 off 5) bowled a tight opening spell, although it was interspersed with a few lucky and nervous hoicks from Mujahid to keep FPC's run rate up.  At 1-30 after 6 overs, Yathu (0-21 off 3) and I took up the second change. I claimed the second (lbw) and third wicket (bowled) hitting the right lines and then a bowling change to Jon L. just before the drinks break, brought the fourth wicket and danger man Mujahid (who skied a catch that was well-held by Sebastian at square leg).  FPC were slightly reeling at 4-72 off 15 overs. Following the break Jon L. (1-19 off 2) and I (2-17 off 4.1) took an over each of a hammering, but the pressure was applied back on FPC with Rajesh (1-17 off 4) and Kari (0-14 off 3) bowling a tight middle spell and with Rajesh picking up Nadeem well caught by Janne (who took a nicely judged catch as the ball skied behind the wicket) in the 18 over.  From 5-92 FPC dug in and gradually, Mubashir and Saeed started to take a liking to the spinners to push FPC 5-122 off 23 overs.  In the first over of the batting power play, Jonathan O. (1-18 off 1) had an over he'd rather forget, yet with the help of a spectacular diving catch from Tatu at cover picked up the wicket of Saeed. We were still well in the game when Pete also picked up Mubashir LBW to have FPC 7-144 after 25 overs (and needing 33 off the last 5).  Unfortunatley for SKK, I got the bowling options and overs muddled, we dropped a couple of chances, and a few lusty agricultural blows from Bilal and Kashif eventually swung the game for FPC to hit the winning run off the first ball of the last over.

Despite the disappointing finish, I thought that we can take a lot from losing such a good and thrilling match.  We dug our way out of a hole in the batting, bowled and fielded with great energy and had FPC there for the taking only to see the game turn the other way.  We just have to try and convert our chances a little better in the games and I need to sort out our bowling line up.  We also need to brush up on outfield catching and get a few more nets on the coconut mat, however as captain I was pleased with the whole team effort.  It's a tired cliche, but let's take the positives from this match and get cracking on the points table in the next match.

Gerard Brady (captain)

Statistics :  Match unofficial graphs

SKK Starts summer season positively with good performance in warm up games against Empire CC and Helsinki CC. There was clear evidence from Sunday game that this year league title fight will be interesting, specially after FCA decided to implement new rules to Finnish leagues such as, power plays and free hit.

SKK outdoor season begins on 4th May with training session. In year 2010 SKK is playing SM 50 and T20 games and is  fiercely looking to win both leagues. 

SKK appoints new club board and captain for year 2010. Rajesh Singh will continue as Chairperson and Gerard Brady will take over as club tresurer and captain. Coaching will be handled by Gerard brady and Simon Rodgerson.   Social cricket wing will be handled by Hugh Fitzpatrik.