Saturday 1s vs London Gymkhana

Author: Lewis Hill

Match Report

They say all good things must come to an end. Well on Saturday, Putney 1st XI’s winning streak was abruptly halted by a visiting London Gymkhana. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the match is that we were in the ascendency for first 30 overs in the field. But the following 20 overs were sloppy, which was followed by a lacklustre response with the bat, consigning us to our first league defeat of the season. A moist, grassy surface was greeted with open arms by our bowlers. And it all started so well. Opening from the Gary Peters End, Sam “Mean Aussie” Furber was the pick of the attack and was unlucky not to claim more than two wickets. Ben “Surrey” Williamson and I pitched in with two wickets apiece, while a direct hit from Damandeep “Bam Bam” Singh and a wicket for the returning Piers “It Was There To Hit” Jackson left Gymkhana on 112-8, with their backs against the wall. But the next 20 overs were below par. Sloppy mistakes in the field and some costly dropped catches allowed the opposition to recover. Saad “The Badger” Hannan and skipper Ebersohn claimed the final two wickets, but the damage was already done. Gymkhana all out for 195. As always, tea was superb. A stellar Putney innings was required and we started brightly with skipper Ebersohn and Alex “Hopey” Hope making starts. Hopey fell to the first change bowler – who picked up six wickets on the day – for 28. Ebersohn soon followed him back to the shed a few overs later, with 36 to his name. A middle order collapse soon followed, with only Gary “GP” Peters able to hang around (eventually finishing on 18*). With six overs left in the match, we needed our tail to hang in there with him to claim a draw (which in truth, would have been undeserved). We couldn’t do it and Gymkhana rightfully punished us for our earlier mistakes, bowling us out for 109 to win the match. Just the one key takeaway this week – perform better next week. A trip away to West End Esher (the home of a certain someone’s favourite umpire) beckons – here’s hoping Putney 1st XI get back to winning ways immediately.

Date	Time	Team	Opposition	Location	Putney	Opposition	Result	Scores	Points	Toss
02/06/2018	1pm	Saturday 1st	London Gymkhana	H	109/10	195/10	L		0