Bogotá cricket festival was a successful affair for Bogotá CC. Photos: Olly West
Bogotá Cricket Club was successful in both limited overs formats in the annual Colombian cricket competition.
A month of torrential rain that ruined any chance of cricket in May cleared just in time for the annual Bogotá cricket festival. The lack of practice did not seem to affect the home team as Bogotá Cricket Club won both the entertaining games during the first weekend of June.
Able to return to the luxury of the Bogotá Sports Club’s artificial turf thanks to new sponsorship from Yumi Yumi Bar – and perennial supporters La Villa, Cranky Croc Hostel and Golden Lion Cider – the capital’s cricketers batted first on Saturday’s game, a rare 35 over affair.
Medellín CC joined forces with Cali CC to form the rather catchy “Calellín”. With the paisas unbeaten since 2015, and boasting Cali’s Sri Lankan Dian “the taxman” Perera as well as Colombia’s leading all-rounder Abhas “McPaisa” Shrivastava as skipper, Calellín looked confident at a sun-drenched BSC.
Shrivastava’s bowling figures in previous encounters with Bogotá are too traumatic for the rolo batsmen to recount here. But he had never opened the bowling to Bogotá’s Dean Wiltshire.
When Wiltshire responded to captain Farrington’s orders to get his eye in by stroking Shrivastava’s first ball for six over long-off — which the batsmen later called the “best shot he’d ever hit” — it was clearly not going to be McPaisa’s day.
Indeed, Wiltshire went on to make 80, and even though Dian, reaping the rewards of the recent tax reform, showed his spinning ability with six wickets for 39, Bogotá set an imposing total of 201 all out.
It really wasn’t McPaisa’s day, with the bat he creamed his first ball wide of the rather wide cover fielder, Olly West. Salsa-ing to his left, West stuck out a hopeful hand that uncharacteristically pouched the captain for a golden duck. Calellín only made 165 all out and slumped to defeat.
With Bogotá boasting several sore heads and Calellín’s keeper Gilbert back in Medellín after a ball cut open his eyebrow on Saturday, Sunday’s 20/20 line-ups were different.
So too was Wiltshire’s luck; he went for a duck in a disappointing Bogotá batting performance as the home side only made 95. Initially, it looked plain sailing for the visitors as Shrivastava made up for lost time with the bat. But McPaisa’s generous retirement — to give the rest of his team a bat — was all the papaya that Bogotá needed.
Tommy Dutton took advantage with a spell of four overs, two wickets for three runs, while debutant Marcus Harvey — allegedly a wicketkeeper batsman — stepped up to bowl with a ripped quad muscle to take the last two wickets and leave Shrivastava stranded on 37. Calellín made 80 and lost by 15 runs.
Bogotá Cricket Club is always looking for new players; join their Facebook group for more information.
By Stewart East
