Saturday 2s vs Horsley & Send
Author: Jeffries
Match Report |
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I wanna see the sunshine after the rain I wanna see bluebirds flying over the mountains again Oh where is the silver lining shining at the rainbow’s end? Putney CC celebrated 149 years of cricket this week by acquiring our first ever set of covers. Fittingly this precipitated some heavy precipitation and they were put to immediate use for Saturday’s 1st XI home game. The 2nd team, aka ‘People’s Eleven’, packed their passports for a trip outside the M25 to visit Horsley & Send. Monsoon conditions on the morning gave us mixed feelings toward our chances of an uninterrupted game, but Horsley and/or Send experienced a meteorological anomaly and we enjoyed glorious sunshine on a dry ground all day. Those of us who made it to the ground in punctual fashion witnessed Amogh win the toss and insert the opposition, while Original Doug waved at us from a train that passed the ground on its way non-stop to Guildford. It’s fair to say that 39-0 in the 6th over wasn’t the start we were looking for, as the opposition opener tucked into an early buffet of overpitched bowling with gusto. Luckily, one big shot too many accounted for him as he fell to Bra in the 7th over for a quick 27. A more village team than ours might have given it the old “one brings two” shout at this stage, and although we did not, it truly did. Bra picked up batsman number 3 with an lbw just 4 balls later, before swiftly accounting for number 4, clean bowled. At the other end, the Admiral bowled with typical discipline and relentless accuracy, finishing with figures of 9-2-22-0. Ollie Pilkington’s Russian roulette approach to run outs eventually paid off thanks to the clean handling of George behind the stumps. At some point, Original Doug took the field. Amogh is a man who captains by feel rather than formula, and on this day his instinct told him to introduce the enigmatic leg spin of Henry Harvey. Used as an emergency wicketkeeper in his only previous 2nd team appearance, he gave a textbook display of jug avoidance on this occasion, picking up four wickets. Typically leg spin is either economical or wicket-taking, but this was both. Four wickets for 20 runs off 11 overs deserving at least a mention in the man of the match stakes. New Doug infuriated Original Doug with his name-stealing, and his miserly 4 over spell was curtailed in order to allow Bra to complete his 5-fer and guarantee the team some free beer. Amogh is indeed a visionary. Obligatory (and sincere) compliment about tea. With a mere 54 overs available to us, we set about the task of chasing down the target of 127 in typical Putney fashion; losing two quick wickets to the opposition’s tactic of opening with spin. I arrived at the crease with the score at 15/2, 14 of those having been scored by George. By the time I reached 7 he had moved steadily into the thirties, and dampened the spirits of the Horsley & Send bowlers. When the new ball was taken in the 13th over, we were both able to move through the gears, adding another 40 runs in the next 5 overs as George reached a fine half-century. Noticing that there weren’t enough runs left on the board for me to build a score, I promptly holed out for 31, bringing Amogh to the crease. George clearly felt that not enough wickets had fallen to spin on the day and generously swiped across the line to ensure that the oppo’s leggie got his name in the book. Tush joined Amogh and the pair safely accumulated the remaining runs, Tush adding the cherry on the cake with a monster six to end the game. And so to the silver lining. Bra got the jugs in, and we strolled over to H&S’s second ground to watch the conclusion of their 4th XI game. In the warm of the setting sun we were treated to a masterclass of batting technique from 12 year old Jack Ellis-Robinson. He caught the eye with some strong front foot play before rocking back to pull for 6 off a bowler who had to be four times his age. Every shot was met with a huge cheer as he dragged his side towards an unlikely target and we were dismayed when he was finally dismissed for an excellent 26. After congratulating his dad, Amogh attempted to shake hands with the lad but what ensued was an awkward game of pattycake, leaving both parties looking bemused. Man of the match – Bra for his 5fer Mug of the match – Doug for fielding the ball literally once in his only contribution to the game, plus turning up late and leaving early. The Tushar Bhakre ‘How on earth did you do that?’ award – Jack Ellis-Robinson (Horsley & Send 4th XI) for an admirable innings and a mighty six |
Date | Time | Team | Opposition | Location | Putney | Opposition | Result | Scores | Points | Toss |
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20/07/2019 | 1pm | Saturday 2nd | Horsley & Send | A | 129/4 | 126/10 | W | 20 |