Finished at last. Apologies for the delay to those who have been
waiting; everyone else can safely delete.
BLAKE'S XI v BABYLON XI
At Outer Galle, February 24, 25, 2262. Babylon XI won by three
wickets. Toss: Blake's XI.
The teams resumed for their biennial match under the walls of
the picturesque Federation fort at Outer Galle. After Sinclair called
incorrectly, Blake chose to bat on a pitch which was to display
unexpected signs of seismic activity. But the rebels made a confident
start. Tarrant hit three successive boundaries off Ivanova's opening
over and had raised 45 in ten overs with Jenna when he attempted to keep
the strike by taking a sharp single off the final ball. Lennier's swift
return to Kosh from deep extra cover saw him stranded. Zen soon
followed, crashing into his own stumps as he attempted to drive Marcus,
and the introduction of Lennier's leg-spin for the following over saw
Blake and Gan perish within four balls. Avon was determined to take on
the slow bowlers, cracking 27 in 15 balls, including four fours and a
six, off Lennier and Garibaldi. But overconfidence undid him when he
trod on his wicket attempting a hook, and gave Lennier his third victim.
Orac lasted a mere seven balls, without scoring, as Garibaldi's off-
breaks removed him and Soolin in quick succession. All the while,
however, Jenna had been scoring steadily, and almost unnoticed, at the
other end. She now completed her third fifty in three innings against
Babylon XI. Fatally, she seemed to relax, and Lennier trapped her lbw.
The score was 143 for eight, but Dayna, given a life early on,
supervised the tail to good effect, adding a further 38 runs with the
support of Cally and then Vila. Cally was finally caught off Lennier
after failing to read his googly, and Vila, who looked highly alarmed
when he saw Ivanova measuring out her run-up, perished when she quickly
retrieved the ball and threw down the stumps as he dashed for the safety
of the other end.
Newly-weds Londo Mollari and G'Kar made their way to the middle
to begin the Babylonians' reply. But Londo seemed quite intoxicated
with excitement. He took a risky second run off Soolin's first
delivery, despite G'Kar's agitated cries of "One's enough!", edged the
second for four, and was comprehensively pinned in front of his stumps
by the third. G'Kar lasted a little longer but, apparently distracted
by the loss of his partner, was run out by Orac as he wandered out of
his crease. This brought Delenn in to join her husband Sheridan, who
was already engaged in a tense battle with Dayna. She thought that she
had had him caught behind in her second over; umpire Martok turned down
the appeal. In her next over, Vila claimed a catch at backward point;
but as Dayna hugged him, Martok pronounced that it was a bump ball. Two
overs later, Sheridan pushed the ball back to her and she dived forward
to take a spectacular catch off her own bowling; but Martok announced
that he was uncertain as to whether it had carried and signalled for the
third umpire, Brunt, to review the vistape. When the green laser shone
out, Dayna exchanged heated words with both Sheridan and Martok, and had
to be steered away by Blake and Cally. She was later reprimanded by
referee Scarlet for her dissent. But in the twelfth over, she had her
revenge, as she sprang to her right to make another remarkable return
catch. This time, there was no doubt, and though Martok turned down her
loud lbw appeal against Sinclair four balls later she restricted herself
to a hard stare. Soon after, she was replaced by Cally, whose second
ball tempted Delenn to pull to the long-leg boundary, where she was
caught by Tarrant. Marcus now arrived to support the chief Ranger, and
they shared the most productive partnership of the innings, 43 in 50
balls, until Cally had Marcus caught at second slip. Ivanova blazed
briefly until removed by Vila, Kosh was out-thought by Cally, and
Garibaldi was lbw when Dayna started her second spell from the other
end. But Sinclair, playing a true captain's innings, reached his half-
century under the floodlights. He was last out in the final over of the
day, stumped by Orac, who mimicked Federation wicket-keeper Jarriere by
daringly standing up to Soolin's pace.
Blake's XI led by 23 on first innings, and Tarrant was in a
hurry to extend that when they resumed, lofting Lyta's first ball for
six. But Ivanova shattered his stumps with her second delivery, and
dismissed Jenna in identical fashion at the end of the same over. Zen
and Gan lasted little longer than they did the previous day, and Avon
was caught by G'Kar at third slip. Blake held firm and, with Orac's
help, furthered his team's cause in a stand of 36 in just five overs,
striking Marcus for six. At 80 for five, a lead of 103, Blake's XI held
the advantage. Then Marcus bowled a most dramatic over. His second
ball trapped Blake, who left muttering something about an auction; the
third bowled Soolin's leg stump; and the fifth saw Dayna caught by
Garibaldi at deep mid-on. This triple-wicket maiden left them on 80 for
eight, and seven runs later Orac became Lennier's seventh victim of the
match. But an extraordinary last stand between Cally and Vila revived
the rebels' hopes. Vila started cautiously, first observing Lennier's
wily bowling, and then, having worked it out, batted so well that he hit
four fours, cheered on by Cally; they added 46 in nine overs before he
was finally caught at first slip.
That left the Babylonians a target of 157, and they made the
worst possible start when Londo, after weaving his erratic way to the
wicket, was bowled second ball by Soolin. She swiftly added the First
Couple of the Interstellar Alliance to her haul, and when Dayna bowled
Sinclair for a duck the score was a dismal 40 for four. G'Kar, however,
pausing from time to time to glare reproachfully at the team balcony,
where Londo's crest was just visible, had scored 31 of those, and
continued to hit out with great strength and determination. He looked
in trouble only during a deadly maiden over from Soolin, who believed he
was lbw to its third ball, and gave umpire Dukat an icy look when he
turned down her appeal. G'Kar had smashed two sixes and five fours when
he was bowled by Avon for 60, the highest score of the match. Still, at
85 for six, with 72 required, the odds were against his team-mates.
Ivanova and Kosh combined to great effect, however, hitting Avon out of
the attack when they took 14 runs off his fourth over. Vila replaced
him, and seemed to have Ivanova plumb lbw with his very first ball.
Bizarrely, umpire Martok referred the decision to Brunt, although the
regulations of the Intergalactic Cricket Council made no provision for
such a referral. Liquidator Brunt's smirk could be seen illuminated in
the green laser, and Vila never regained his composure, losing his line
and length entirely. Cally ended Ivanova's charge at last, with 20 runs
required, whereupon Soolin and Dayna returned in an attempt to blast out
the final three wickets. But Garibaldi lashed out for a couple of fours
and Kosh glided the winning runs.
Called upon to adjudicate the Player of the Match, Seven of
Nine, stating that impartiality was irrelevant, pronounced herself most
impressed by Marcus's feat of three wickets in four balls, regretting
only that he had missed the perfection of a hat-trick. Babylonian
captain Sinclair hailed his team's efforts in squaring the series at
1-1, and looked forward to the decider in 2264. Blake agreed, adding
that he was confident of winning the series at that date. Asked to
comment on the umpiring controversies of the match just completed, he
said only that he would be making his own report to the Intergalactic
Cricket Council; he insisted that he was proud of his players'
performances and their dignity in defeat, though he had to speak up to
be heard over the shouting from the dressing-room.
Man of the Match: Marcus Cole (adjudicated by Seven of Nine).
Close of play: Blake's XI 181, Babylon XI 158.
Blake's XI
Tarrant run out (Lennier/Kosh) 28 -b S. Ivanova 9
Jenna lbw b Lennier 51 -b S. Ivanova 0
Zen hit wkt b M. Cole 4 -lbw b L. Alexander 6
*Blake b Lennier 4 -lbw b M. Cole 30
Gan lbw b Lennier 4 -c and b S. Ivanova 5
Avon hit wkt b Lennier 27 -c G'Kar b Lennier 7
+Orac b M. Garibaldi 0 -lbw b Lennier 13
Soolin c Kosh b M. Garibaldi 6 -b M. Cole 0
Dayna not out 20 -c M. Garibaldi b M. Cole 0
Cally c S. Ivanova b Lennier 19 -not out 23
Vila run out (S. Ivanova) 3 -c J. Sinclair b S. Ivanova 25
B 13, l-b 2 15 B 5, l-b 4, w 5, n-b 1 15
1/45 2/57 3/62 4/66 5/116 181 1/9 2/10 3/20 133
6/131 7/137 8/143 9/169 4/35 5/44 6/80
7/80 8/80 9/87
Bowling: First Innings-L. Alexander 8-1-31-0; S. Ivanova 3.1-0-20-0; M.
Cole 4-1-18-1; Lennier 10-1-58-5; M. Garibaldi 7-1-39-2. Second Innings-
L. Alexander 5-0-24-1; S. Ivanova 7-0-33-4; Lennier 9-1-43-2; M. Cole 7-
2-24-3.
Babylon XI
L. Mollari lbw b Soolin 6 -(2) b Soolin 0
G'Kar run out (Orac) 12 -(1) b Avon 60
J. Sheridan c and b Dayna 14 -b Soolin 5
Delenn c Tarrant b Cally 16 -lbw b Soolin 1
*J. Sinclair st Orac b Soolin 54 -b Dayna 0
M. Cole c Blake b Cally 26 -run out (Orac) 10
S. Ivanova c Zen b Vila 10 -lbw b Cally 29
+Kosh Naranek lbw b Cally 0 -not out 26
M. Garibaldi lbw b Dayna 6 -not out 11
Lennier c Orac b Dayna 1
L. Alexander not out 1
B 6, l-b 3, n-b 3 12 B 2, l-b 8, w 5 15
1/6 2/19 3/48 4/65 5/108 158 1/1 2/31 3/35 (7 wkts) 157
6/119 7/128 8/139 9/156 4/40 5/66 6/85 7/137
Bowling: First Innings-Soolin 6-0-31-2; Dayna 10-4-28-3; Avon 5-1-16-0;
Cally 9-0-43-3; Vila 4-0-31-1. Second Innings-Soolin 7.4-1-31-3; Dayna
6-1-29-1; Avon 4-0-32-1; Cally 6-0-38-1; Vila 2-0-17-0.
Umpires: Gul Dukat and General Martok. Third umpire: Liquidator Brunt.
Referee: Captain Scarlet. Scorer: Marisu.
--
Harriet
"There is a place for all at the rendezvous of victory." - Aime Cesaire
