CL INDOOR LEAGUE STARTS WITH A BANG!

The CL Indoor League got off to a flying start last Saturday with two well contested games.

In the first match IPPA Falcons played Indigo Spartans and the Falcons got to bat first.

This is a hectic format with batters operating in pairs and every ball a scoring opportunity. As the first team to bat the Falcons made their way carefully at first and scored only 3 off their first set of batters.

With a 5 run penalty for losing a wicket, safety is a premium and the second set of batters were much more circumspect, they got the score up to 21 off 6 overs.

The bowlers were on top for the next set and 4 wickets in the three overs meant that the Falcons had a bit of work to do with 9 on the board and three overs to bat.

The last three overs were all action with 6s, 4s and wickets. The Falcons finished positively and set an overall total of 18 off their 12 overs. Would this be a competitive score?

The Spartan's had the benefit of experience and batted conservatively to retain wickets. However they couldn't get the board moving and their first set of overs saw them on a score of -1 (effectively 4/1).

The second pair realised that with "singles" counting for 2 runs the hit and run was a strong tactic. They did well in their 18 balls, losing only one wicket and getting the overall score to 6.

The third pair of batters knew they needed to get ahead of the target and then to retain wickets. Again the hit and run was their tactic and they made 11 in the session, 17 overall.

There were long discussions for both batters and fielders before the final three overs as each team decided what their tactics would be. The bowling was tight and the batting circumspect, but the Spartans didn't lose any wickets and pushed twos when they could. At the start of the last over Spartans were 21 and just needed to make sure they didn't lose any wickets. The first two balls both went for two's meaning that the Spartans could see out the rest of the over for a comfortable win with 25 runs.

The second match saw Adamstown play Merrion and Adamstown got the first chance to bat.

This was a much more high scoring game with the batters putting the bowlers and fielders under pressure and the bowlers having trouble finding their lines. The first partnership put on a run a ball in their three overs, and they were able backed up by the next set of batters who saw off the best of the bowling for the loss of only 1 run.

The third set would prove decisive as a combination of lose bowling and aggresive batting saw Adamstown put on 23 for the partnership, for a total of 40.

The last pair focussed on not losing wickets and the addition of some extras meant that they finished on a total of 60. Merrion would have some work to do.

The Adamstown bowlers never let the Merrion batters get settled and the first set of overs saw Merrion put on only 10 runs, with no boundaries. Merrions follow up batters were more aggresive in overs 4-6 but also lost wickets so ended up with a partnership of -1 and only 9 on the board. Would Merrion be able to kick on in the third set and put themselves in touching distance of the imposing Adamstown total?

Well two wickets in the first two balls, and 7 wickets overall meant that they ended with -11 from those 18 balls and -1 overall. 62 needed off the last three overs!!

The last Merrion pair would have it all to do and they gave it a good go. The first over went for 10, with no wickets lost. Thirteen off the next over left Merrion on 22 and a sniff of a chance. When the first ball of the last over went for 6 it looked like there was a chance, but Adamstown came back with two wickets and Merrion ended up on a very respectable 25 off their 12 overs.

So Indigo Spartans and Adamstown took the spoils on the first day of the tournament. They play each other next Saturday: