Some you win, Some you lose

Cossonay Tigers were scheduled to play two of their matches on 7^th of July: a Swiss T20 versus Olten CC at En marche Cossonay; and a Pickwick T20 versus Geneva 11 stars at Onex Geneva. The Tigers hoped to end their losing streak and stake their claims to the semifinals of these two T20 tournaments.

In the first match, Cossonay were unsuccessful in defending a total of 147 runs against Olten CC. Tigers had a poor start as Olten’s frontline bowler Ali Neyyer removed Sriniketh in the very first over. Sathya and Arjun then steadied the innings with some power hitting, but could not capitalise on their good starts. A brilliant 43 not out by Lalit which included plenty of attractive strokes helped Cossonay in putting a fighting total of 146. Olten were very positive in the runchase and their opener Ali looked to hit everything. The bowlers failed to control the run rate and put any pressure on the opposition who comfortably chased the target in the 17^th over. Cossonay were left to rue over their lack of bowling options in the absence of Jasbir and Kishore.

Down but not out, Cossonay travelled to Onex to face opponents Geneva 11 stars. On a sluggish pitch with unpredictable bounce, it appeared that the home team being at an advantage would easily thrash Cossonay. However the Tigers finally roared and got better of 11 stars, beating them by 11 odd runs. Batting first, a sensible batting approach by Sathya, Arjun, Rajesh, Aayush and especially Lalit allowed Cossonay to put up a strong total of 122 on a difficult track. The highlight of the match was Lalit hitting Ali Saleem for 3 huge sixes in an over and accelerating the scoring rate. Chasing the target, 11 stars could manage only 111 in their allotted overs. Cossonay were clever to slow down the bowling pace and cashed in with the spin duo of Arjun and Sriniketh in the middle overs. Lalit, Kishore and Vaibhav also bowled stump to stump. The bowlers were also supported by brilliant ground fielding, with Arjun taking a stunning one handed catch at long on and Yeti taking a sharp low catch at point.

The Tigers were a happy lot at the end of the day to get back to winning ways. Chances to qualify for Pickwick T20 semifinals are high. In Swiss T20, with Power CC almost out of the group stage, Cossonay, Winterthur and Olten CC have to fight it out the next weekend for the semis.

GAME ON!!