CERN make it three out of three

On a very hot July afternoon, CERN travelled to Cossonay to take on the Swiss Colts in a league match in which a victory could assure them a place in the semi-finals.

Colts won the toss and elected to bat first, which suited CERN well as they had intended to bowl had they won. Openers Tanvir and I.Ahmed bowled well, with Azmat producing a wicket maiden in his second over. The bowling remained tight, however the run rate did increase on a fast outfield – anything getting past the infield quickly ran away to the boundary. Having struck in the third over and despite the countless edges which dropped either short or wide of the fielders, as well as some fine hits from Vinod, it wasn’t until the 20th over that CERN finally managed to break what was rapidly becoming an irritating partnership as far as CERN were concerned, when D. Ahmed bowled Kruger for 42, a partnership of 103 runs. Colts didn’t let this affect them though, as Vinod and Jakody continued to make runs at a good rate. Another 10 overs went by before CERN put an end to Vinod's fine innings of 74 (caught W. Ahmed off I. Ahmed’s bowling). The dismissal of their key batsman saw the Colts begin to panic, with dangerous singles being taken which ultimately led to two run-outs. CERN were by far the happier of the two teams at the end of the innings having confined Colts to 215-6 after 40 overs.

After tea, openers Ward and Nawaz began the CERN run chase brightly, though a couple of quick wickets did have a couple of the more experienced team members worrying that the all too familiar CERN collapse could make this more difficult than it should be. Fortunately for CERN, Ward’s luck was in as he powered his way to 59 during an explosive partnership with W. Ahmed (38) before chance number six was finally taken. Kippax (28 not out) and Paul (29 not out from 10 balls) ensured a comfortable victory with 12 overs to spare. Thanks to all for an enjoyable, though rather hot day’s play, and of course to Zoe for her usual immaculate scoring.

This article was first published on CERN CC website.