MacGregor Mystics v Brothers
Warehouse Winter 2021
Round 4 Sunday A1
13 June 2021 at Fred Kratzmann Oval
It is very difficult to defend in the field with even one player missing, let alone three! So, when, in the absence of skipper Allauddin Mohammed, Saddam Turk lost the toss and found himself in the field with just eight men, things were going to be tough.
A Brothers team loaded with QPC 1st and 2nd graders attacked mercilessly from the outset to take the score to 38 in the 4th over before Aman Dhaliwal drew an error for Deepak Salgotra to take a catch. The second wicket came in the 12th over when a lofted cover drive was accepted by Adnan Iqbal, once again off Aman 2/70.
Mystics almost wished they hadn't taken the wicket when Toombul first grader, Paddy Cotter exploded contributing 68 in a 3rd wicket partnership of 98 in 66 balls and going on to make 80 from just 42 balls. Mystics fought back with wickets in the 23rd over - an LBW to Adnan - and the prize wicket of Cotter in Shehnaz's first over, the 26th, via a catch to Taimoor. Hussain picked up a wicket in the 31st over and Shehnaz his second in the 40th as Brothers powered on to an imposing 6/317 off just 45 overs.
At 2/59 after 10 overs, the chase was going well, but two wickets in the 11th over set the cause back a bit. Then a fighting 82 run partnership from 76 balls between Shehnaz and Zubair Khan provided a glimmer of hope for the Mystics. As is mysteriously the case in cricket, the fall of one wicket, after a strong partnership, seems to bring about another as Zubair fell just short of a 50 and was closely followed by Shehnaz a few overs later. Harish hammered a quick fire 48 down the order while Adnan and Taimoor provided some late fireworks in a 10th wicket partnership of 42 from 32 to take Mystics to 254. A solid total on any other day. One wonders what could have been if a full complement of fielders were there at the outset.
