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Winterthur take Swiss title in 20th Anniversary year
2 October 2002
(Saturday 21 September 2002): WCC 162 all out from 38.4 overs beat Geneva CC 110 all out from 32.4 overs, by 52 runs (Heerenschuerli, Schwamendingen (ZH)) Winterthur CC crowned their 20th anniversary year with an outstanding team effort to upset Geneva CC in the Swiss Cricket Association final at Schwamendingen on 21 September.
The ground at Swamendingen was in surprisingly good condition, thanks to the excellent work of Edda Pereira and the local ground staff, who had the near impossible task of preparing the pitch and outfield after torrential rain throughout the week. The outfield was still damp on the day, and the pitch soft, and batting was not expected to be easy throughout the match. Saturday itself was cool and misty, however with only a light breeze, and clouds which did not immediately threaten rain, both teams hoped the forecast for late showers would not come true. Raja Hafeez, the GCC captain, won the crucial toss, and immediately gave Winterthur the opportunity to see just what the pitch would be like to bat on. Pieter Swanepoel and Anu Sharma were patient early on against some very tight GCC bowling, and did well to play themselves in on the slow pitch. Runs proved hard to come by, and with the score at 16 in the 6th over, Swanepoel shaped to pull a very short delivery from Neelish Kulkarni which surprised him by looping up with a tennis-ball trajectory. With no pace on the delivery, the WCC captain could not lift the ball clear of Nasir at mid-on, and was caught for 9.
Disaster struck in the first over after drinks however, when Sharma drilled a full-blooded square drive straight at George at backward point, who coolly accepted the sharp chance. Sharma was on his way for a well-compiled 33, with the score at 69 for 3. Cooke and John Hallam continued to work the ball around off the next few overs, but the score was at 78 in the 25th over when Cooke (23) tried to guide a shortish ball outside off stump away into the off side, only to have it shoot through at ankle height, take the inside edge of his bat, and deflect on to the stumps. With wickets falling regularly, and the run-rate in need of a boost, the stage was set for the arrival of Rob Emslie to join Hallam. The pair immediately began to pressure the field, with aggressive running, and the occasional lusty blow. The hundred was swiftly brought up in the 29th over, before Hafeez struck back, snaring the vital wicket of Emslie, bowled for 15 when he was looking very comfortable. Vasu Meragu strode to the wicket, and swiftly changed the match. He initially took no risks in the next few overs, keeping the score ticking over with the assistance of the effervescent Hallam between the wickets, but then launched into a brutal assault on anything pitched up. First one massive six disappeared over the longest boundary and into the trees behind the bowler's head, then another was delicately chipped onto the path past the boundary at mid-wicket. The pair added 28 runs off 20 balls, before Hallam was unlucky to be given out run out for 18, when a television replay may well have indicated the wicketkeeper did not have the ball when he broke the stumps. 131/6 off 32 became 136/7 off 34 when Ali deceived Dave Williams to bowl him for 3, but some sensible batting from Andy Roost at number 9 ensured Winterthur did not collapse without using up most of the remaining six overs. He took the score to 153 with Meragu before playing across a full and straight delivery from Kulkarni, and top SwissFOCUS umpire Ted Anderson had no hesitation giving him out LBW for 5 in the 37th over. Meragu looked to hit out in the final two overs, and drilled one flat boundary off Ali straight through a tentative catching effort from Mounier at long-off. Mounier had his revenge the very next ball when Meragu attempted to repeat the shot with a little more air, making no mistake the second time, dismissing Meragu for a boisterous 35. The last pair of Peter Howe and Phil Martin looked to pick up what bonus runs they could, but Howe was cleaned out by a "worm burner" from Kulkarni for 3 to leave Winterthur all out in the 38th over for 162. For Geneva, the wickets were shared among Kulkarni (3-22 off 7.4), Amir (2-26 off 8), Hafeez (2-37 off 8) and Ali (2-16 off 3).
Winterthur CC - Batting Pieter Swanepoel (c) c. Nasir (Mid-on) b. Kulkarni 9 Anupam Sharma c. George (Point) b. Amir 33 Michael Burgess b. Hafeez 0 Paul Cooke b. Amir 23 John Hallam Run Out 18 Rob Emslie b. Hafeez 15 Vasu Meragu c. Mounier (Long-off) b. Ali 35 David Williams (wk) b. Ali 3 Andreas Roost LBW b. Kulkarni 5 Peter Howe b. Kulkarni 3 Philip Martin Not Out 0 Extras 18 Total (all out, 38.4 overs) 162 Geneva started aggressively in reply, needing 4.08 per over to win the match. Amir cut his first ball from Roost hard and high to the left of Hallam at point, who did well to get both hands to the chance, but could not hold on. Swanepoel made amends in the 3rd over however, removing Amir's leg stump for 5 with a ball which cut back and kept low off a length. The very dangerous Nelson strode to the wicket to join George, and was also dropped first ball, this time by Peter Howe who also did very well to get a hand on a flying chance to his left at first slip. The pair took the score nervously to 13, before Nelson gratefully received a full toss from Roost, and smashed it through mid-off. Or would have done, at not Swanepoel thrown a hand up at the chance, deliberately deflecting it upwards so that he could gleefully accept the vital catch on the second attempt. Nelson was on his way for 5, and Geneva were wobbling at 13/2 in the 6th over. Ali and George struggled against tight bowling from Roost and Swanepoel, and in the 10th over, Roost cut one back to hit Ali's back pad, and give Ted Anderson another opportunity to raise the dreaded finger, and compound the damage at 27 for 3. Raja Hafeez signaled his intentions early, blasting his second ball over long-on for four, and adding two further searing boundaries to the total two overs later. It was to be the day the full-toss got its revenge however, when a thigh-high effort from Peter Howe took the back of the glove of Hafeez as he tried to smash it over square leg, and rolled gently onto the base of middle stump. Geneva had lost their two danger men to loose shots to full tosses, and were firmly on the back foot at 41 for 4 in the 12th over. Paul Cooke sent down a truly miserly five-over spell costing only seven runs, and George and Kahn struggled to recover the innings against tight bowling. With the required run rate approaching five an over three balls before drinks, the pressure told on George, whose patient 15 came to an end when he pulled Howe gently to Emslie at mid-wicket.
With their hopes fading, Nasir and Mounier showed some admirable application, and brought up the hundred in the 30th over, before Nasir failed to clear Swanepoel at mid-off from Martin, dismissed for 15. The return of Andy Roost hastened the end, having Salim immediately caught by Meragu at short fine leg off a top edge. Finally, Mounier's fortunate innings, including three chances put down, was brought to an end when Burgess swallowed a chip shot on the boundary at square leg, and the championship was nabbed. Winterthur took out the match by 52 runs, the difference between the teams being the sharp running and careful placement of the WCC middle order, who were able to still score at three and four and over off tight bowling, which GCC were unable to do. Geneva, for their part, were unlucky to have come across Winterthur in top form, at just the wrong time of the season, as well as losing three key wickets in circumstances where they might be able so consider themselves unlucky. The sun came out just as Captain Pieter Swanepoel lifted the trophy for only the second time in Winterthur's 20-year history, and the party continued long into the night.
Geneva CC - Batting George c. Emslie (Mid-wicket) b. Howe 15 Amir b. Swanepoel 5 Nelson c. Swanepoel (Mid-off) b. Roost 5 Ali LBW b. Roost 9 Hafeez (c) b. Howe 12 Kahn c. Roost b. Martin 18 Kulkarni c. Martin (Point) b. Swanepoel 2 Mounier c. Burgess (Sq leg) b. Roost 11 Nasir c. Swanepoel b. Martin 15 Salim c. Meragu (Fine leg) b. Roost 1 Olivier (wk) Not Out 0 Extras 17 Total (all out, 32.4 overs) 110 Winterthur CC win by 52 runs, and win the SCA trophy for 2002. MoM: Pieter Swanepoel (WCC)
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