Midweek vs Panteg
Author: Rich Jeffries
Match Report |
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I recently had the immense pleasure of arranging a touring friendly between my two clubs as Putney of London travelled to Panteg of South Wales for a 40 over friendly. On arrival in South Wales, the Putney contingent were treated to a warm welcome, a designated camping area and plenty of jugs of beer. Breakfast rolls on Sunday morning helped blow away the cobwebs and many photos were taken of the picturesque ground with its giant square boundaries. More on those later, but I did bet Sayer a jug of beer that he couldn't hit a 6 to the longest side. The Panteg cricket club is almost as old as Putney, having been founded in 1876 by workers at the nearby steelworks. The ground has been long known as a batsman's paradise and regularly hosts Wales age group games as well as Wales Minor Counties and Glamorgan 2nd XI fixtures. We were in fine company. With the ceremonial toss completed and Putney choosing to bowl, the home batsmen downed a vodka jelly as they strode to the crease. Music was playing and there was plenty of chatter, but that turned to stunned silence as Bri Mac clean bowled the home opener for a duck. Panteg then settled, with their number 3 calming things down and playing nicely until Callum Brown struck with a horrible full toss that was bunted straight into the hands of Savan Patel at mid on. Next ball Cal bagged another one as his wide half tracker was cut hard into the hands of a diving Seb Kidson at point. The hat-trick ball was sliced just over the head of Sayer at slip but Callum's 5 over spell yielded 3 top order wickets and a nomination for man of the match. At 31/4 it looked good for Putney, but Panteg's 5th wicket partnership was the Reid brothers - first team stalwarts who ran hard and hit the ball hard too. They played well together for a partnership of 84 until Niket Patel saw them both off in the space of an over courtesy of catched from Kidson and Brook. Panteg did well to recover from the double setback and their captain made his way to an unbeaten 50 to finish on 193/7. As Putney prepared to chase down 194, opener Hannaprod was nowhere to be seen, prompting yours truly to consider stepping into the opener's berth. Luckily the prod emerged from his van and made his way to the middle, enjoying a fantastic opening stand of 89 with Josi'ah Mace. Mace reached his 50 with shots all around the ground, while Hannaprod fell to a cheese-themed umpiring controversy for 34. I must admit, I cheered a little bit when Hannaford was given out. Not that I wasn't enjoying watching him hit a young girl's bowling almost to the boundary, but because it was 20 overs in and I had some severe pad rash. I couldn't listen to any more of Callum's verbal music journalism, and I couldn't smoke any more menthols. It was time. I was welcomed to the crease like an old friend that probably did something offensive at some point - even the bloke who got a duck sledged me. I got off the mark first ball, a spring in my step as I cantered to the other end. I ran hard, putting on a rapid 7 run partnership with Josi'ah before my big moment was cruelly cut short when I was clean bowled by the Panteg wicketkeeper bowling his part time offies. Well, I had a lovely day. After my brief cameo came Rohit, who looked majestic til he was catastrophically triggered by flatmate Sayer. Josi'ah fell to a simple c&b when he looked set for a century, and Kidson ran himself out. Luckily Putney's middle order was long on the day, and Niket Patel struck several boundaries as he turned the momentum back to Putney. Sayer and Brooksey knocked off the last 35 runs in some style, with Sayer securing the victory with a huge 6 to the long side of the ground. Off the oppo's first team leggie. Sayer, IOU one jug of beer. A great game with a well-timed run chase that went down to the final over, but more importantly a great connection between the two clubs. The BBQ, beers, Thunderbitch and stump race after the game were well enjoyed and we look forward to renewing friendships in 2021. DDJ - Brooksey forgetting the ball, drops hat and Thunderbitch (honourable mention to Seb for digging him out of that hole) Champagne moment - Sayer's 6 to win MOM - Josi'ah for his excellent 66 to set up the run chase |
Date | Time | Team | Opposition | Location | Putney | Opposition | Result | Scores | Points | Toss |
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02/08/2020 | 1pm | Midweek | Panteg | A | 195/6 | 193/7 | W | 0 |