Fixtures and Results | Match Reports
Date | Against | H/A | Link | Result | Captain/Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sun | 4 / 7 / 2010 | Old Doms | Away | Report | Lost | by 3 wickets. Old Mo 256-7. Oppo 257-7. |
SCORECARD
Fitmen 256-7 (40 overs); Old Doms 257-7 (39.5 overs)
Old Doms won by 3 wickets.
A finger of fudge............
A windy but dry day down at Bromsgrove meant we wouldn’t need to toil on the all weather pitch which brightened the pre-match chatter. Captain Nutter tossed beautifully and the body language as he strode back from the middle told it all – ‘we’re batting men’. The simultaneous toss by the impromptu tossing committee had produced an identical result – heads is best.
Si and Raj looked to take the shine off a top ball (which lasted right through the game despite a penchant for the cabbage field next door where it spent alot of time in both innings) and duly saw out the first 4 overs or so before both secumbed to the temptation of a big score and got caught driving uppishly into the Hurricane drifting in from the west.
Jack strode in and by the time the bowlers got their breath back he and ‘Butch’ had put together a 100 partnership. A perfect right and left combination caused the field to resemble the New Street station platform changes in between each cheeky single.
Difficult to pick out the best shots as there were plenty from both exponents of the batting art. Jack eventually fell at 52 to an odd first slip having used his plank to great effect and generally the 4s crossed the boundary split seconds after the shock treatment in the middle.
This left Butch to up the tempo and caress the ball around the ground. He was eventually given out to a ‘retired – you’ve bullied them enough’ decision masquerading as an LBW for a powerful and cultured 84.
Speaking of cultured, the Cumbrian Clatterer strode to the crease (fresh from a kip in the changing room), and with a strike rate of 260 looked like he was on something, but a decent full length ball cut short a potentially brutal knock.
Tom got himself in and then upped the tempo with a fine 28. Sunny’s stay was temporary and seconds after advising his partner they would stay put and milk the bowling tried to stick another one into the cabbage field and paid the price.
Bash Brothers Caesar Snr and Jowett, fresh from ducks the previous week, decided to see out the last 4 overs..........and produced a modest 40 odd between them to push the total over 250 for the first time this season.
A formidable total but a true wicket and fast outfield meant it wouldn’t be plain sailing and Doms always produce a close game. And so it proved..........but not before the best away tea of the season, of which the highlight had to be a splendidly moist chocolate and beetroot cake. Perhaps it was the weight on the pit of the stomach – but certainly enough calories were taken on for a thrilling second half.
Johnny H Jnr started in a miserely fashion and the scene was set to strangle the 6.5 required rate and push it towards 8. Sunny hadn’t quite got his radar on and on a loose one outside the off stump the ‘big fella’ bludgeoned one at the Chairman who got his fingers to it at deepish Mid off and then wished he hadn’t.
Old Doms' resident doc suggested amputation whilst the Chairman wisely decided on a second opinion and slinked away to the shiny new QE A&E. Ring finger still attached, he thoroughly recommends the service to future casualties. Rehab is due with a trip to the hand movement specialist this coming week; being an exponent of the art, this shouldn’t be an issue and full movement will be back in seconds despite the calluses.
Back at Bromsgrove, one down (and a bowler at that) the containment just got tougher. The Old Mo moved their remaining fielders around as best they could to defend the short boundary down the hill. Then Sunny made fast ground at mid-off to pouch a superb catch off the Cumbrian Clatterer, and the Old Doms were on the back foot again. At the half-way stage they were behind the run rate, but with eight wickets in hand.
After the break, Jowett switched ends and clattered the stumps of the Old Doms' number two bat. Then, as the Old Mo rotated their part-time bowlers to make up the Chairman's allocation, the Old Doms' number four turned the heat up. He held things together with 82 before he pulled something critical in his leg; he too was forced to retire.
With six overs to go, the Old Doms needed a run-a-ball with six wickets in hand. Openers Jon Howes and Sunny stepped up to the mark, supported in no small measure by Raj. Raj took two wickets from the pavillion end – one a sharp take by 'keeper Tom Caesar down the leg side – before switching ends, and his 2 for 21 off four helped to make it hard for Old Doms.
Then a pumped up Sunny had ‘em going in what should have been a relatively straight forward target with plenty of batting in the hutch. With four runs to defend in the final over, his first ball slipped narrowly under a diving mid-off and the batsmen scampered two. His second ball was hit with intent but without direction and became his second superb catch of the day - caught and bowled. The Old Doms' skipper came out to put an end to things – that lasted one ball as Sunny then breached his defence. Three balls to go, two runs to draw, Sunny on a hat trick and fire in his belly! A wide-ish wide! Oh, the agony. Then their number 10 sneaked a quick two off the re-bowled antepenultimate ball and it was all over.
So, so close.
Part two v Old Doms on Thursday against the Fitmen’s all conquering ‘dirt trackers’ midweek side!