Titan

IU Spoils The Home Opening Party!

Paul Dharmendra Ramkissoon

It started like any other home opener, excitement in the air, a good game on the cards and teammates looking forward to doing battle on home soil.  Add to that fact that 6'7" Warren was in town and you had the recipe for a great day at the park.

Electing to bowl first was a bold move by new skipper Tanmay after winning the toss for Titans.  The new ball pairing of Wazza and Paul brought back old memories...IU was reeling at 22/2 by the  end of the six over and the first blood was struck by Titans.

After that it was a bit of stalemate of an innings as IU labored and Titans turned in a flat performance in the field.  The only highlight was the skipper's 4-23 although there were a few shots and a few chances that offered a bit of promise for the cricket fan.  At the end of their innings IU had scraped together a commendable 191 runs.

IU's bowling was incisive early getting Dalip for a golden duck and sending back Anil before he reached double figures.  Consolidation was on the cards though as Tiki and Chuck batted and ran Titans back into a winning position before Tiki was run out.  At that point it seemed the match was well in hand, but IU battled well and Titans middle order choked on the fight as several wickets went down in a heap including Chuck who had just completed his 50.  A threat to IU was mounted though as the captain and vice captain mounted a spirited 9th wicket stand of almost 50 runs, but the damage had been done as the skipper lost his wicket and Deo's lack of game time resulted in a quick LBW and celebrations from the IU camp as Titans fell 20 runs short.

It was a bitter disappointment for all the Titans family, but it was clear in the eyes of our favorite opponents, IU, that the inevitable rematch in the playoffs later this year would hold a lot of excitement in store.  IU will have felt they snuck a win and similarly Titans will have felt the let a sure thing slip away.  Such is the game of cricket and thats why we play, to experience all its glorious uncertainties.

As they say, you cannot win on talent alone and catches do indeed win matches.