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Youngsters just miss out on victory
M. George
The Swiss Under 17s went from their worst performance of the season to clearly their best in just 7 days, with a narrow 6 run defeat at the hands of Cern CC on Saturday 2 August.
Although both sides were weakened by holiday commitments, this was a vast improvement on the 120 run defeat suffered at the hands of the same opposition in early May.
Right from the start it was clear that the team was determined to make up for the failings of the previous week. Nikhit Nanjungud struck in his first over with an excellent late away swinger which danger-man David Bolton edged to the keeper.
Although no more wickets fell until the 14th over, the youngsters kept up the pressure with accurate bowling and energetic fielding. Muzaffar was the second wicket down at 40, with debutant Matt Hill taking a confident catch running around the boundary off the bowling of Waleed Saleem. This was the first of two fine catches for Hill, who impressed also with the power of his throwing arm from the outfield.
Unlike the previous week, change bowlers Richard Marsden and Trystan George bowled with consistency and kept control over proceedings. From their 7-overs allocations, skipper Marsden finished with 3 for 21 and George 2 for 23, proving that there will be strong competition amongst the bowlers at the European Championships which start on 9 August.
Although Anthony Morley with 35 and Peter Crook with 29 not out put in a strong performance for Cern CC in the last 10 overs to bring the score to 149 for 8, the bowling and fielding stood up to the test. Ali Saleem finished with 0 for 28, Nanjungud 1 for 33 and Waleed 1 for 41; all respectable performances.
Sensing the possibility of defeat, Cern threw everything they could at the Under 17s in the early overs, with batting heroes Morley and Crook building up a real head of steam. Runs were hard to come by, with survival being the sole aim. But, having played out the openers, and with the score on 17, George lost concentration to the change bowling playing across the line to be bowled for 8. However, Matt Hill and Nikhit Nanjungud came together for a fine partnership of 70, which kept alive the team’s hopes of victory up until the final over. Hill overcome a nervous start to open up his range of stokes, with the highlight being the biggest six of the day over long-on. His score of 30 was bettered only by Nanjungud’s well made 34.
Ali Saleem chipped in with a quick 13 and the Cern bowlers succumbed to nerves, bowling 21 wides, but it was the hesitancy over taking quick singles and turning quickly for twos which cost the team a chance of getting much closer to victory.
Nevertheless, with this lesson learnt, the Swiss squad will travel to Germany at the end of the week in good heart and with renewed confidence in their ability to perform well in their first ever appearance on a European stage.
© Swiss Cricket Association
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