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On the 4th & 5th of June
Latvian Cricket Club hosted much anticipated two limited overs games
with the visiting Old Bedfordian Cricket Club UK at the VEF stadium
in Riga, Latvia.
The games were organized with great enthusiasm
on behalf of the Latvian Cricket Club members with a healthy
attendance of the local people who showed great interests in the
games.
The first game got off in the rare sunshine
after formal introduction & team group photos with both teams
agreeing to play a 20 overs game with Latvian Cricket Club batting
first. Samir & Sumit opened the batting for the LCC with the score
board moving at a great pace before Samir gave a nick to the
wicketkeeper on an individual score of 5. Yet again, Sumit proved to
be the backbone of the LCC’s batting and after Ajay being bowled for
a duck Deepak and Sumit played with great ease. Deepak scored 34
runs as he was caught by a wonderful effort at the boundary. Sumit
scored 79 runs before being finally out in the 17th over.
He played on both sides of the wicket and scored 11 boundaries as he
got applause from all corners of the stadium on the wonderful show
of batting in style. Vikram (5), Safdar (12), Partha (1) & Riaz (4)
all contributed towards the end. Old Bedfordian helped the cause by
giving away 28 runs in extras. LCC set a difficult target of 168
runs in 20 overs with the loss of only 7 wickets. Except Steve &
Mark UK club found it difficult to keep the ball in good line &
length.
Old Bedfordian CC had a bad start to their
batting as they lost early wickets. Ajay (1 for 14 in 3 overs) &
Riaz (2 for 25 in 4 overs) kept the bowl in good line with some
lively pace got the scalps from the 2nd over of the
innings. As soon as Safdar (3 for 17 in 4 overs) was introduced from
the other end, life started to get worse for the UK club’s batsmen
with wickets falling regularly from one end. The only remarkable
resistance that came from the UK club was from their opener Hollins
Worth scoring 85 runs the highest of the game and going down in
style in the last ball of the last over of the innings to Safdar by
a good catch on the boundary by Nandhu with the score at 137. Sumit
(1 for 15 in 2 overs), Partha (1 for 21 in 2 overs) & Ijaz (2 for 15
in 3 overs) got their share of the wickets.
Latvian Cricket Club winning the game
convincingly by 31 runs with the next game being on the following
morning.
Both teams decided to play a 30 overs game on
the 5th of June and after winning the toss UK Club
decided to bat first. Old Bedfordian CC started their innings
cautiously but the LCC bowling once again showed it’s variety as the
wickets keep falling from both ends. Ajay, Sumit, Riaz, Safdar, Ijaz
& Vijay bowled to a great line & length as the UK CC bowled out for
just 86 runs on the score board in the 19th over.
With just 87 runs to get, LCC’s captain Sumit
decided to rest the main batsmen and Nandhu & Vikram opening the
innings. Nandhu played a good solid innings & even with the fall of
Vikram (8) & Sundar (10) did not bother playing his natural game,
especially those marvelous cover drives. Alex (0) the only Latvian
member of the team had his own experience in playing at an
international game and has definitely learned from it. Nandhu was
finally caught at the boundary for 33 runs, his highest so far.
Sumit scored the winning runs as the game came to an end quite early
than expected. LCC finally won the game by 2 wickets. Steve Lawrence
(2 Wickets) & Dave Tabb (4 wickets) had a good day with the ball
altogether but it was not enough in the end.
After the game, Mike Roberts congratulated the
LCC for their deserved wins and awarded Sumit the winning trophy.
Sumit & Samir thanked UK Club & Mike Roberts on behalf of the LCC &
Latvian audience for visiting Riga and playing the games in good
cricket spirit. Mike & the other team members of UK club thanked LCC
for their hospitality & nice arrangements as they found Riga not
only great in playing cricket but also in historical sightseeing in
old Riga.
The cricket fever in Riga finally ended but the
enthusiasm that was witnessed during both games from the local
authorities & audience has been tremendous. We are looking forward
to host more games with the visiting sides from the region in July &
August. Please, contact Sumit Chakravarty at
sfw@sfw.vip.lv and visit our website at
http://www.home.lv/cricket
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