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Following our morning defeat of MIB u19 on Sano riverside 1D, the team hurried over to ground 4 to face our next opponents, the Tokyo Dragons. The ground conditions were much the same as the morning game, but a late start meant we had to shorten the game to 18 overs to be sure of finishing before nightfall.
The Lions won the toss and this time Taiga opened the batting with Eric. The Dragons bowling causing issues from the start - a large number of wides mixed up with some very good balls that were swinging and moving off the seam. The Lions just managed to last the whole 18 overs, but only one batsman, Eric, ever started to look comfortable before he was dismissed for the Lions high score (and only double figure score) of 17 from 33 balls. 3 batsmen got ducks and there was not a single boundary in the innings. The most consequential batter was Ethan, coming in only for the 6th ball of the 18th over, and playing his first U19 game, he hit the final ball for what would be a very, very important 2 runs.
As the ground conditions were bad (the lack of boundaries was because of the dead grass stopping the ball) the Lions were hopeful they could pull this game out of the bag. Eric and Kirren opened the bowling, but were in for a shock as the Dragons opening pair were able to hit boundaries. By the fifth ball of the fourth over the Dragons were on 33 and the Lions were starting to lose hope, Kirrens previous 2 balls hit for four. Then Kirren struck and clean bowled the Dragon`s batsman. After this Juto and Sam partnered for some low scoring overs with Sam removing the second batsman in the 8th over. in the 10th Kirren took 2 more wickets, 1 from a high catch by Juto. Over the next few overs Mantra and Sam each took a wicket, meaning the Dragons entered the 15th over with 2 batters remaining and needing only 5 runs to win. Sam was given the job of bowling the over, bowled a nice first ball, but then got nervous on his second and bowled a wide, with the Dragons managing to run....2 batsmen remaining, 3 runs needed for a win. Sams third ball was nice, but was hit however with some great reactions from Kirren and tight keeping from Taiga the pair managed a run out! 1 batsman remaining, 3 runs needed for a win. The next ball the new batsman edged the ball and it hit him in the box....or at least it hit him where he should have had a box, except he entered the field without one. After a few minutes for the batsman to recover and put on his protection, the battle re-commenced. Sam was nervous and again bowled a wide, with the Dragons again managing a run. The game was now tied. Taking his run-up this time Sam looked determined and bowled a lovely ball that beat the batsman and hit the stumps - the Lions had manged one of the rarest results in cricket, a tie.
After the game neither team looked happy - each felt like it was a loss, however the result was fair. both teams battled and in the end neither lost. The Lions got 6 well needed points from two games today and are 5th in the table with 2 games to play. Two wins will get us to the finals!
Stats: Highest scoring batsman : Eric (17), best batting strike rate : Ethan (200), most wickets: Kirren & Sam (3 each), best bowling economy : Mantra (3.0)
Player of the Match: Kirren
Team: Eric Harrison, Ethan Williams, Juto Ball, Kirren Hollow, Mantra Joshi, Nived Namibar, Pratyush Bist, Sam Robinson, Taiga Hague (Wicket Keeper & Captain)
