Saturday 3s vs Merstham
Author: Charlie
Match Report |
---|
Suffice to say that having won the toss and chosen to bat, 11-4 left me considering most of my life choices and feeling mildly ill, that we would go on to win this game after 2 excellent comebacks was some kind of a miracle. First to the batting, the 3s have had 6 games this year without a single successful chase. So, despite the morning rain, slightly damp pitch and most of the club’s batting deciding to take the long bank holiday off, upon calling correctly, I decided that we didn’t want to chase. A fine nick from Giles, Rhys played on, Avi played on, Girish bowled by one that decided it just didn’t feel like bouncing. Despite the batsmen assuring me that the pitch wasn’t really to blame, it was thoroughly reassuring to see Joe (64 off 85) settle into an increasingly familiar recovery job. Aided by a superb foil in Dan (29 off 60) and Merstham’s apparent desire to keep watching Joe bat (or at least that’s why they said they kept dropping him), we recovered to 95-5. For regular followers of the Saturday 3s, they may know that twice this season we have got this far, only to be all out for 116. Mercifully this was not the case this week, and after Erfan’s departure at 99-6, myself (23 off 21) and Joe took the attack to Merstham putting on 38 in quick time. A few late blows from Sid and Savan (not out again of course) took us to 160 and a score that gave us a chance. Following a good tea at this wonderfully picturesque ground, we set about our work with the ball. Sid (6-3-14-0) and Savan (4-1-18-0) opened and bowled tightly without luck, including a woeful drop at mid on from the skipper. Myself (5.1-1-24-2) and Erfan (4-0-31-1) found the breakthroughs, but at 88-2 at drinks Merstham were well on top. League debutants and housemates Rhys (8-1-27-5) and Dan (8-3-13-2) were brought on together with the line from Dan that “I never go for runs, he gets all the wickets”. As promised, so was the prophecy delivered, with a superb bowling partnership that saw us squeeze a limited batting line up, our catches start to stick and Dan eventually dismiss their opener (who apparently we really enjoyed watching - 4 tough chances had gone down off him). The two of them fell 1 wicket short of completing the job before I returned for a 1 ball spell, but they had completed a remarkable second comeback of the day that has brought us right into the promotion fight. In summary a superb team effort, Rhys was voted Motm for his 5-27, but honorable mentions for Joe’s excellent 64 that brought us back into the game and Dan for his battling 29 and excellent bowling. Finally it would be remiss of me not to mention Erfan’s catching, having complained that everyone else was dropping catches, took 3 good ones at short cover including a scorcher that we all thought was past him before he plucked it out the air low and one handed. Thanks to everyone for their efforts, see you all through the season. |
Date | Time | Team | Opposition | Location | Putney | Opposition | Result | Scores | Points | Toss |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
04/06/2022 | 1pm | Saturday 3rd | Merstham | A | 160/10 | 127/10 | W | 20 |