Bahrain: Day Two of Ladies Cricket Fever in Bahrain's More Kudlotsava
by Ronald D’Souza and Joe Andrade
for Daijiworld News Network - Bahrain (GA)
Bahrain, Feb 20: All the 24 artistes taking part in The Indian Mega Festival – “More” Kudlotsava arrived from Mangalore on the Tuesday February 19 evening at 9.15 pm and assembled at the Indian Club grounds to take part in 7-a-side six-over limit Ladies Cricket tournament organized by Anand Lobo of M/s Lobo International in association with Petals International Trading.
The highlight of the late evening was from the 7 of the young lady dance artistes who took to the cricket field captained by Renuka Sreeyan more-or-less dancing with bat and ball under banner Team Lobo International, showing no jet lag despite arriving an hour earlier! If ignorance is bliss, this is it!! To watch them play cricket on the field was like a storm in a hot cup of tea, an adaptation to the typical bouncy Mangalorean style, no eye sore even for even sleepy eyes!! All the rules of the game were shelved, nevertheless, the scheduled matches played bit late with robust mixed results taken with a pinch of salt! Another amusing if not thrilling day of cricket all in the name of Kudlotsava for the cheering supporters who went home content to await the dawn of grand finale of the game with more of “More” Kudlotsava in store!
At 9.15 pm Team Lovely Friends were pitched against Team Kannada Sangha. Team Kannada Sangha who played first could notch only 28 runs in the six overs. Team Lovely Friends wasted no time to come out triumphantly in four overs with Wilma once again whacking the ball in all directions to victory. The teams certainly did play better than yesterday with fewer dropped catches and more accurate bowling (playing darts style) that restricted the run rate.
At 10.30 pm Team Bunts Bahrain after winning the toss took on Team Lobo International.to the field to bat first scoring 55 runs for the loss of just 1 wicket. Lobo’s International was all out for 43 in the sixth over. Hard-hitting Akshatha Shetty was the record top scorer for the Bunts contributing 31 runs.
In the last match of the day Team Lobo International overcame their bitter first experience by scoring quick 42 runs in just 4.5 overs in their second match to trounce Team Indian Club B who made 41 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in the allotted six overs playing first.
The fielding was unique with the players making the field look like a bouncy castle when chasing the green soft ball that spun away from the bat. The Team Lobo International was expert in the reverse swing of the bat that they just would not know which direction the ball would shoot! A wee bit of volley-ball could also be seen as the ball bounced from the palm of the cricketers hands! The fans apart from cheering were learning in amusement the magical way in which they could swing and accumulate runs. It was fun for all the eyes.
Matches will commence at 8.30 pm on Wednesday February 20 and the chief guest of the evening is the First Indian Lady, Vasundhara Shetty, wife of the Indian Ambassador to Bahrain H E Balakrishna Shetty. As an added attraction, who else could we have in the field to bat and bowl other than Vasundhara Shetty herself! Ambassador……would you be watching??
A prize distribution ceremony for the winners in the finals and the best of the best of them in every aspect selected by a core panel of judges will be scheduled at the end of all the matches on Wednesday. Right now, it is anybody’s guess as to who would take the final honours. Let us in the meantime wish all the cricketing ladies more cricketing luck and to all the cheering supportive spectators another hilarious cricketing fun! Why don’t we have so much fun when the men play cricket!??
Day 1 Report: