Following a rainout June 1 and two bye weeks after that, the Yorkton Yorkers showed a lot of rust in their One Day Provincial (ODP) match June 23 losing by 100 runs to Regina's Hawks in Saskatchewan Cricket League (SCL) play.
The Yorkers started out by losing the coin toss, but were pleased the Hawks chose to bat first thinking the wet, long infield grass would be to their advantage holding up ground balls in the early going but drying out as the match wore on.
Yorkers bowlers came out strong, but did not get any help from the fielders, who dropped several catchable fly balls in the opening session, giving the Hawks valuable runs. By the mid innings break at 20 overs, the Hawks had put up 101 runs with only two wickets lost, a quick start.
Things didn't get much better for the fielders after the break in a nightmare afternoon for the Yorkers who looked much better before their long layoff.
The Hawks completed their 40 overs with 217 runs for seven wickets, a good total, but not insurmountable for the Yorkton squad who showed good batting in their first win.
After lunch, however, Rugvedh Reddy, one of the Yorkers' opening batsmen was almost immediately called out on a controversial run-out when he was caught standing outside his crease after he thought the ball was dead. Rapidly, the Yorkers gave up five more quick wickets including captain Faisal Anwar and Mandeep Singh, Yorkton's half century (50-plus runs) batsman from the team's previous win against the Jaguars May 25.
Nevertheless, based on a strong performance from Ankit Puri and a developing partnership with Hitesh Mankotia, the visiting team surpassed the Hawks' 20-over run total with 103 by the afternoon break.
Unfortunately, with eight wickets already lost, the Yorkers had to count on the continuing partnership of Puri and Mankotia or the untested bottom of the batting order to carry them through the final 20 overs.
Puri's time in the crease came to a halt however in the 21st over when he was bowled out on a leg bye wicket.
Puri's exit brought up wicket keeper Thom Barker, who had not batted yet all season. The Hawks' bowler made short work of Barker taking the wicket on the second ball he delivered.
Alternate wicket keeper Gautam Parmar, who had also not strapped on the batting pads this season, fared slightly better, but was still quickly dispatched leaving the Yorkers all out with only 117 runs to the Hawks' 217, losing key players proving to simply be too much as their final wicket keepers had yet to swing as batsmen all campaign to this date.
Anwar said the loss was disappointing, not in and of itself, but because of the way the team played.
"We beat ourselves with mistakes today," the captain says. "We bowled well, but dropped a lot of catches and made some key errors in the crease."
Puri, a member of the Yorkers reserves, performed admirably in place of star all-rounder Tinku Sharm, accounting for 69 of the Yorkers' runs plus one of the opponents' wickets the performance has ensured Puri will be on the full squad as he was a bright spot in defeat.
The Yorkers next game is June 29 against the Stallions when they look to grab their second win in club history after their tough loss to the Hawks.
