|
|
|
|
Hampstead - Sunday 11th May 2008
Unusually for May we
arrived at Hampstead in full sunshine and with a hard deck at our disposal to
bat on after winning the toss. The opposition requested we play a 45 over match
and runs came at the anticipated rate for most of our innings, but we were
hampered by an alarming early loss of wickets. The new guys, Blair
Simm and Tim Hannan, were looking like proper openers until Tim was bowled for
4, and then we lost another quick wicket with Matt McMillin being caught at slip
in a piece of cricket that looked like slow-mo video with a gentle outswinger
being gently edged to slip. In an effort to ensure
everyone had a decent chance of a job in the middle, Craig Robinson and Gerard
Walsh batted 4 and 5 but sadly that little experiment didn't work out and in
what seemed like no time at all we were 25 for 4. Mike Oliver joined
Blair and took us through to 75 until Mike didn't quite clear the ropes and was
caught for 23. Swannie then proceeded to confound the bowlers briefly with his
own array of shots but missed one that held up and was bowled for 8. 88 for 6. Vancer took a little
while to get comfortable which isn't surprising at this time of year, but after
a short time got his eye in and he and Blair took us through to 151 until Blair
was out attempting his first real shot in anger (cow shot to their off-spinner)
and was bowled for 75 after showing some nice balance in executing his drives. Vancer and I were
trying to take us through to the 45 over mark until I was out LBW off the splice
(first time in my life - and no - it wasn't Marty who gave it :-) and we were 8
down for just under 200. Mick Gore and Richard
Holden did their best to support Vancer and we were all out with a few overs to
spare for 208, with Vancer making a well compiled 55. Given the conditions
we knew we were around 50 runs short but hoped to get a few early wickets and
put some pressure on. We really only had two
seamers of any pace, so opened with Mike Oliver and Richard Holden, giving
Vancer a wee rest before bringing him into the attack. Their South African pro
didn't treat Richard with any degree of respect at all so after a few overs we
had to switch Mike to the other end and bring Vancer on. Those two bowled
tidily for a period with Vancer taking a spell after 5 overs and Mike bowling
through his 9. Mick Gore was a little bit wayward and will be all the better to
have those few overs under his belt, and I came on to carry on after Mike to try
and tie up that end. Gerard Walsh and Tim Hannan had brief spells from the other
end, but Hampstead's young keeper/batsman played really well and compiled 105*
with his only chance being a screamer which went through Mikes right hand to
score the winning runs with 12 overs or so to spare. So not the greatest
outing for LNZCC but it was good to see Blair get runs and he'd be the first to
agree there was 100 for the taking there, and Vancer looked bloody good making
his 50. All in all, with one more of our top order staying in, and one more
seamer being available on the day, that would have made this match a close one. For those of you who
haven't been there, Hampstead is an excellent venue with a great balcony for the
after match ales, and is a fixture I'd recommend putting in the diary for next
season. Cheers - Fletch LNZCC won toss and
elected to bat in this 45 over match Scoreboard LNZCC 208 All Out (42.2 overs) Harefield 210 for 4 (33.1 overs) Hampstead win by 6 wickets
Batting Runs Catches Stumpings Stats
Blair Simm 75
1
Matt McMillan 1 Mike Oliver 23 Andrew Swann 8
Vance Thompson 55
Extras
14 FOW
11, 20, 24, 25, 76, 88, 151, 193, 199, 208 Bowling O M R W
Mike Oliver 9
1 38 1 FOW
36, 76, 147, 148 Catches: Blair Simm, Paul Christian
GBK Man of the Match - Blair Simm |
|
Webmaster webmaster@lnzcc.org Website by Hatchford Consulting
|