Geneva XI Stars rise again from ashes of Winterthur

In their first game, the SCA League West big-hitters played their postponed Pickwick quarter-final against Power Winterthur after rain put paid to the encounter last week.

With Power Winterthur’s usual venue unavailable, the match was moved to Affoltern, where the low-bouncing coconut matting brought the Stars down to earth as they wilted in the heat to 101 all out in 25 overs.

Stars’ skipper Ashwin Lakkaraju acknowledged that his team’s total was at least 20 runs short of a truly defendable score, which Power Winterthur knocked off – though not altogether easily – for the loss of seven wickets in the 18th over.

The Stars suspected they were in for a tough time after seeing the matting laid on a lush turf base – the kind of pudding fast bowlers can’t digest. Proving their fears correct, even the 6ft 6in Sambit lost his super powers with the ball, just as surely as if the green stuff was Kryptonite. Only two weeks ago he was unplayable on Cern’s artificial wicket.

Lakkaraju said: "On that surface 150 would be worth 300 on any other wicket, so we came up a bit short. We nearly beat them, but conditions weren’t right for us on the day."

"It was difficult for our bowlers; we’re used to bowling on artificial wickets outside the off stump to look for the edge and throwing in some yorkers, but at here it’s not useful to do that on coconut matting, because the ball sits up to be hit."

Refusing to lie down, and almost certainly to lie-in, the Stars’ second fixture of the weekend took them to Berne.

Although the Stars expected a new set of complications with the host’s rubber matting, they shone in the encounter, electing to bat first and reaching 259 all out in their final over.

Ovais opened the batting assault and scored 61, before nicking a flashy edge behind in the 30th over, while Raja reached his half-century before heading back to the pavilion shortly afterwards, lbw for 51 in the 13th over. Further down the order, Ali smashed an entertaining 55, before an ill-judged slog put paid to his efforts in the 31st over.

Skipper Lakkaraju said the team’s gambit to batter Berne into submission was crucial: "The tactic was to go all out attacking, and we knew that you have to go onto the front foot in Berne even when the ball bounces half-way down the track."

"We also knew they had good spinners and the matting would help them a lot when it came to their turn to bowl."

As predicted, Berne’s Chanaka’s left-armers ultimately earned him four for 33 and Aseem picked up 3 for 32. An unusually wayward Farhan took 2 for 69.

While the Stars’ 259 total earned them maximum batting points, their score nonetheless looked a little undercooked after the team had earlier sailed to 150 for two. And it was a closer finish than the 60-run victory suggests, with Berne racing to 140 for four at drinks, thanks to top-scorers Kamal (34) and Muhamed (30).

Thankfully for the Stars, Ovais proved just as valuable with the ball as the bat as he pinned Berne back and picked up 2 for 29 in his six over spell. There were also wickets for Tariq (3 for 38), Neelesh (2 for 32) and Hamayun (2 for 32).

The victory was the Stars’ first win in three years against Berne. Lakkaraju, who credited Ovais’s spin with "pulling us back into the game", added: "We were worried early on as they raced away but we had a good spinner in Ovais. He really tightened them up."

In Sunday’s second league encounter, a rejuvenated Winterthur beat Zurich United by eight wickets, despite fielding only 10 men.

United struggled from the moment they lost the toss at Winterthur, reaching 20 for 3 after 10 overs and ending on 88 all out in the 27th over. Imtiaz made a useful 20 down the order and skipper Hilmy Marikar made 15, but his resistance ended when he was bowled trying to drive at one that kept low on the still-damp surface.

Showing off the kind of bowling attack that United can only dream of, Winterthur opened with a tight spell from medium-fast seamer Rahul Khandelwal. Yogish Kumar took four wickets in under four overs, while Irishman Pip Kirkpatrick's leg spin accounted for three cheap wickets in six overs.

In reply, Winterthur wasted no time chasing down the total and scored at around five an over, losing two wickets before reaching their target in the 15th over. Raghu Viswanathan top scored with 37 not out, while Rahul also opened the batting to score a quickfire 27 before Srihari trapped him lbw.

Srihari gave United a further boost when he ran out Kirkpatrick with a direct hit from short leg, but the Winterthur win was never in doubt.

After the game skipper Marikar said Winterthur deserved the win but had been helped by United’s limited bowling resources. “We tried to contain them but we lacked penetration on the day with only two regular bowlers in Manokar and Pradeep, with Srihari’s medium pacers filling in," he said.

Marikar added ominously that United’s attack next season will be much healthier since many former players have pledged to return to his side.

Winterthur’s Matt Allen said: "We’ve got off to the best possible start, winning our opening two league fixtures – including an opening match victory against last season’s champions Power Winterthur. There's a long way to go yet, and next week's match is away against the very dangerous Zurich Nomads team, but we have the right momentum.”

He added: "Winterthur is a completely different prospect from last year, with a whole team of new recruits ‘signing on’ in the closed season and several veteran regulars – who were unavailable for one reason or another last year – returning to the field for us this season."

With less match practice thanks to the early season rain but no less passionate about their chances, Royal Zurich gave Zug a roasting in their first league game of the season.

Royals won the toss and elected to bat, partly because they arrived at Uster missing some of their team, and partly because "fielding in that sunshine would have been taxing", according to one of the players.

In a match that saw three 50s from Royals, opening pair Ali Khawaja and Shahzad put on 149. The first wicket to fall came in the 27th over when Shahzad got a leading edge that required a good catch at point. A popper also did for left-handed skipper Khawaja, who was out caught-and-bowled, top-scoring on 91.

Further down the Royals’ order Tayyad blasted his way to 50, scoring five fours and as many sixes, before his team finished on 257 for 8.

Hot and bothered after chasing the ball on a fast outfield, Zug failed to mount a serious reply, ending the day 121 all out after 25 overs. Tayyad was the pick of Royals’ bowling, his right-arm spin claiming three wickets in eight overs, while Hassan conjured up fast inswing from the Duke’s cherry to claim a couple of wickets.

Ali Asif also earned two more scalps bowling a tight line and length. The attack will get its second league outing against Olten next Sunday.

Royals Nitesh Gandhi said: "I’m happy with our performance in our first league match so it’s really good we won it with a good margin. It’s good for our league points too since we made 250 and bowled them all out."

"It was an exciting game, it had it all: the outfield was good, the ball was okay, there was some movement and the weather was good but taxing for the players."

The results given here are unofficial; for the official results, please visit the Swiss Cricket Association.

For the Pickwick Cup schedule.