Birkdale 117-8 dec (29 overs) Elliot T 4/14, Ollie R 3/26 S.Anselm’s 123-4 (28.2 overs) Ollie R 53*
When Ian Botham took a wicket with his first ball back in test cricket in 1986 following a ban, Graham Gooch immediately said ‘who writes your script!’ Today the same could be said about Andrew C who arrived at the wicket with 14 runs to beat his former school, immediately hit a four, took a single to keep the strike and then promptly hit Lowe back over his head and well over the Endcliffe fence for the biggest six of the season! Remarkable!
Such a victory looked unlikely early on as White, having survived a dropped chance at silly mid off, and Singh opened well. Edward S bowled a superb opening spell of off spin bowling, under the close scrutiny of Michael Vaughan, but it was Ollie R who managed the breakthrough and Elliot T, whose radar was switched on so much better than on Wednesday, took the vital wicket of Vikram Singh. The battle continued between these three bowlers and the Birkdale batsmen Burch and Lowe (who scored 69 not out against our U10’s last Friday). The runs didn’t come too quickly, but Birkdale were looking secure. Perhaps the turning point of the match came when Theodore H took a wonderful catch running back at square leg – heaven knows what was going through his mind following two simple drops on Wednesday! Despite this, Birkdale continued to press forward towards three figures as Edward S tired, Alex W couldn’t find the necessary accuracy and Isaac S who, despite bowling quite well, was ‘milked’ for a few runs. The returning Ollie R broke through however as Isaac S took an excellent catch at point and the younger Singh was bowled first ball. Ollie R’s second over disappeared for 11 runs but Elliot T took three wickets in his sixth over as Birkdale pressed for the declaration. It was the reward for a wonderful spell of bowling!
Birkdale had some good batsmen at the top of the order, but they were short of bowling depth. Singh moved the ball early on and White was an accurate off spin bowler, but, once again, Theodore H and Matthew N were equal to the task. 10 overs gone, 24-0 ... just what we wanted! Both defended well and tucked into anything off line or length. I was, again, most impressed! Askham was a talented left arm bowler, who ought to have bowled more, and he dismissed Theodore H and when Matthew N edged into his stumps an over later, we were 34-2 and the match was in the balance. There then followed a marvellous 63 run partnership between Jonah G and Ollie R which took S.Anselm’s to the verge of victory. At 38-2 needing 80 runs to win in 45 minutes, things didn’t look easy, but Jonah G got the score moving against the 4th Birkdale bowler. Despite Jonah then going from 12 to 16 (run out) in the time Ollie R went from 4 to 43, the partnership was the important thing. Ollie R tucked into anything short and managed to place his boundaries so well between the infield. At one point, 54 runs came in seven overs, and we were back on course! Jonah G defended very well, with soft hands against the spin, it worked very well. Unfortunately he didn’t quite make it through for a quick single to be run out (Birkdale had been fortunate to survive a couple of close calls early on). 21 runs were needed from 5 overs and Edward S and Ollie R took six runs from the first of those overs. Surely a win was just a matter of time, but the next over just went for a single then Edward S failed to complete a close call for a quick run ... surely we wouldn’t be deprived of a victory again?! At this point Andrew C came to the crease. Ollie R hit a four too, but this was Andrew’s moment and he couldn’t have played it any better! Two marvellous shots, the six you’ll remember for years to come, and it all sets things up very nicely for my school tomorrow!
JMHF
Posted on
Friday, July 2, 2010
by MAC