Saturday 21st May 2016
Travelbag Surrey Championship – Division 4 – 2nd XI Competition
Chertsey 2nd XI 245 for 8 (50 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 234 for 7 (50 overs)
Chertsey 2nd XI won by 11 runs
Thankfully there was no Peter Moores-esque data available to analyse after this one or we would all have gone crazy, but Stoke were left scratching their heads as this one got away. Perhaps the concession of a few too many in the field and a few missed run-scoring opportunities after tea proved decisive; nevertheless a patched up side savaged by 1st XI call-ups, the lack of a sixth bowler and a midweek injury to one of our starlets, put in a tremendous effort and nearly pulled off a great win in a great game on a good pitch.
Visiting Captain Boast won the toss, had a cursory swear at having to make a decision, and after much deliberation chose to bat first. His decision seemed a good one after the opening exchanges saw Bussey and O’Flynn play positively, O’Flynn hitting four fours and a six off Richie Parrett before the bowler had his revenge next ball when a chance in the covers was taken by Alex Bond.
Bussey and No.3 Bloomfield batted until the drinks break against decent change bowling from Moumer Khara and Ralph Coleman, the latter pressed into a return from injury earlier than planned, and given the added responsibility of leading a side for the first time in a League match since 1995.
After drinks, which saw Andy Berry sit out a few overs due a bout of Gandhi’s Revenge, Stoke started to take wickets. Adam De Swardt forced a less than fluent Bloomfield, (28), to hit to Moumer Khara at mid-off; Coleman removed Bussey, (58), leg-before to one that kept low; and De Swardt picked up a leg-before decision against Harris, the batsman as good as walked knowing he was struggling. 130 for 4.
Chertsey had some decent middle order players in Boast and Ley. They kept the Krypton Factor board moving, (the electronic one refused to work in the damp), against some generally OK but not very threatening bowling, and profited from further fielding errors that plagued the home side all afternoon. Out of character with the fielding effort, both were dismissed by run-outs; Ley, (whose 28 included two cleanly struck sixes), was beaten by a throw from Alistair McMillan that was well gathered by De Swardt; and De Swardt himself threw the stumps down to account for Boast for 32.
197 for 6 was soon 210 for 7 when the returning Parrett picked up a wicket to a good diving catch by De Swardt on the circle to account for Nuti; then Anthony skied a delivery to point off the same bowler where McMillan did the rest. Parrett finished with figures of 10-2-59-3. De Swardt returned for his final two overs and returned commendable figures of 10-0-40-2.
However an untidy finish to the fielding efforts saw Eagles and Chapman add another 23 runs with a combination of good running, poor fielding that included some overthrows, the last ball yielding three when it looked like it would be a catch.
Thankfully the only rain came during tea, (a great effort by the players to cover the pitch), so play resumed on time with no reduction in overs. The rain stayed away and the full 100 overs were bowled.
Peter Phipps and Malcolm Dickson made a steady start to the chase before the latter slipped when called through for an unlikely single and Boast had the simple job of running to the bowler’s end to break the stumps. Phipps put the disappointment behind him and hit Chapman out of the attack with three successive fours; and No.3 Andy Berry hit an early six to keep the board moving.
The total reached 51 when Phipps hit Eagles to Boast; but Berry and McMillan put together an excellent third wicket partnership of 115 in 19 overs to get Stoke marginally ahead of the asking rate.
Berry hit the ball cleanly but both he and McMillan, (the latter nursing a hamstring strain), left a few runs out there so to speak as many potential twos ended up being singles, and a couple of shots that would have reached the boundary on a normal outfield, pulled up short and opportunities to run threes were missed.
However the partnership had Stoke where they wanted to be; two batsman in, a middle order to keep running the ball around, and some lower order belligerence to try and finish the job.
Berry reached 80, (10×4, 2×6), when he was bowled by Chapman; but De Swardt played positively for his 15 before he hit Boast to mid-off.
Boast was into the attack and used all his experience to stem the flow of runs. He bowled his ten over allocation through at a personal cost of just 24 runs; and Stoke needed to find runs at the other end.
Anthony bowled McMillan for 36 as he tried to accelerate the scoring; and No.6 Moumer Khara found the fence a couple of times; but both he and Carel Ferreira found more decent closing overs bowling hard to hit to push the asking rate up to nines.
Khara perished for 21 to a return catch off Eagles; and despite some late hitting from Bond who made a brisk 17 just before stumps were drawn, 22 was required off the last over and Stoke eventually needed snookers with fifteen needed off the last two balls.
A gallant effort in a match played in a good spirit.
Stoke closed on 234 for 7 in 50 overs, (the identical score to their opening day effort at Ripley), but on this occasion it was just a few short of what was required for maximum points. However many positives came out of the day; and the prospect of returning players next week gives cause for optimism when Hampton Wick Royal come to the Rec next Saturday.
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/2804158