Sunday XI collapse to defeat

Sunday 6th September 2015
Friendly
Worcester Park 145 all out (38.4 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 100 all out (30.3 overs)
Worcester Park won by 45 runs

The loss of six wickets in ten overs after drinks was costly for the Sunday XI as they failed to chase down a moderate total set by the Worcester Park who snapped up the fixture having lost their original one.

Pre-toss ‘negotiations’ didn’t go well and the visitors chose to bat despite advertising themselves as a weak opposition. For a while things looked like a blow-out as the scoreboard showed 48 for 6.

Ed Ashwell kicked things off by bending back Shepherd’s off-stump with the third ball of the match, and soon after he castled S.King with an in-ducker to finish with figures of 5-2-11-2 in his last appearance of the season. Will Thomson shared the new ball and was unlucky not to take a wicket in his six-over burst.

First change Moumer Khara gave nothing away and he collected two of the next three wickets to fall; D.Andrews, who fought hard for his 15, served up a return catch, then S.Powers was bowled. Khara’s wickets, (figures of 5-1-7-2), sandwiched one from Adam De Swardt who picked up Mayhew for a duck, well caught just inside the line in front of the car park by Ashwell.

So some game management was needed here. Nico Spreeth, (8-0-40-2), kept things honest at one end, picking up two wickets, both to great catches standing up by Neil Foster, (one of them down the leg-side); whilst other bowlers got chances at the Blundell Lane end.

Chris Finch got a sore finger when one ball was drilled through him for four; and O.King profited from the home side’s generosity, and some untidy fielding in parts, to make 44.

Alistair McMillan did eventually get him, again well caught by Ashwell who this time made good ground from the scoreboard to the car-park. 112 for 8 was still under par, but A.Powers, (not Austin), and young N.Andrews, who looked technically sound, hit some nice shots off Spreeth.

As the total crept towards an under par 150, Ralph Coleman ended the innings in the closing overs; a full ball first up hit Powers on the toe in front; then No.11 Wilkinson was bowled by one that kept low that might also have been leg-before but deflected on to the stumps anyway. 145 all out in 38.4 overs. Both sides happy as they tucked into another of Jo’s specials.

The reply didn’t start well. Foster was lost to a run out in the first over via a direct hit to the bowler’s end from fine leg; Andy Berry hit a return catch to Wilkinson, the same bowler castled De Swardt for a duck and Rod Thomson picked out cover. 29 for 4.

McMillan had protected his wicket and taken what he could. No.6 Spreeth played positively and although four down, Stoke had the upper hand at drinks, (63 for 4), with plenty of batting to come, the asking rate not an issue either given the way the players down the order scored their runs.

We will be sending the drinks off for analysis, though. When play resumed things ended pretty quickly. Spreeth was lbw for the innings’ highest score, (27), off the last ball of the 21st over; McMillan, (21 from 45), missed the first ball of the 22nd, and Khara swung and missed at the team hat-trick ball.

This caused a delay as No.9 Finch, nor any of the remainder of the tail, were padded up at the fall of the seventh wicket. Interesting to see what might have happened had this been a league game.

The delay calmed things down. Will Thomson and Finch pushed the pall around and built a useful partnership of 24, the former curbing his natural instincts to go hard at the ball. The asking rate wasn’t an issue, it was just a question of whether the overs could be batted out. Sadly not.

Finch reached 16 before missing one from Ahmed, then Ashwell departed the same way courtesy of a straight ball from O.King.

Thomson hit a couple of nice fours in the ‘V’ to bring the 100 up, but there was no addition to the score as he was bowled for 16; (the seventh player to be either bowled or leg-before), and all the home support left early, (apart from two of our regular stalwarts), having an earlier finish to their evenings than anyone expected.

A good spirited game and we’ll look to make this a more permanent thing going forward.

Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/2602625