Hustlers 2 v Guyana Heat Round 8 Match Report

Round 8 of the Div 2 fixtures saw Hustlers 2 head over to Wellman Fields to play against Guyana Heat with both teams looking for a win to keep them both in playoff contention in their respective divisions.

The day started off with rain showers all morning meaning the game start time would have to be delayed which was agreed by both captains.

12 15pm saw 10 Hustler players at the ground waiting for a break in the rain and only 1 player from Guyana Heat on his cellphone calling his players asking what time they will be arriving at the ground.
The Hustler skipper said we both would wait for the rain to stop and also would not claim the toss or the game, which Hustlers had every right to do so considering only 1 player from Guyana Heat was at the ground, due to the fact he was giving GHeat every opportunity to go ahead with the game and play within the spirit of the game. No overs were to be deducted as well.

1 30pm arrived and Guyana Heat only had 6 players at the ground but with more on the way, Hustlers skipper allowed the toss of the coin which he lost as Guyana Heat decided they would bat first even though they still did not have enough players at the ground to constitute a start to the game. More time was allowed by Hustlers for the remainder of the Guyana Heat players to show up and once 7 players were present, they went ahead with the start of the game with no rain falling.

The conditions were damp but very playable as the game started and after 21 overs, Guyana Heat were bowled out for 125.

Hustlers went to bat at 3 35pm and got off to a flying start as they quickly reached 29 for 0 after 2.5 overs were bowled. This is when it started to rain lightly and as soon as the rain started, the Guyana Heat opening bowlers said they were going off the field because they said the conditions were too dangerous for them. They didn't even ask the umpires for a ruling and what they thought or even confer with the batsmen. They just simply walked off.

The Guyana Heat players then left the field and instead of waiting for the rain to stop, which it did within 20 minutes and never rained again until we left the park around 6pm, they all apart from their captain, ate their food and then got into their cars and left the ground with no intention of going back out on the field to play. Over 2 hours of no rain falling from the time they left the field that could have been used to bowl the 10.1 overs or even complete the entire innings was not used by the Guyana Heat players.

The Guyana Heat team opening bowlers did not show any intention of completing the game after their bowling was dismissed with ease in the first couple of overs as they knew the only winner of this game was going be Hustlers.

We of course will be seeing how the league rules on this game as we will be claiming the win due to the fact that Guyana Heat had no intention of seeing out the game even when the rain had stopped. A few of the Guyana Heat players were also embarrassed by the way the game finished due to the fact their opening bowlers left the park within 20 minutes of walking off the field. The light would not have been a problem either as the floodlights all came on to light up the whole playing field for the game to continue or at least to bowl another 10.1 overs to get a result.