Sunday 3s vs Marble Hill
Author: Rob Taylor
Match Report |
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Every so often, in the heart of darkness and misery, a shining light prevails, like a beacon with promise of a brighter future. It might be something simple like a weekly poker game to alleviate lockdown woes. Or the promise of cricket during a summer where one might have reasonably expected to spend most of the time indoors. It could even be a juicy half-volley during a tight spell of bowling that one can dispatch through the covers for four (I don’t speak from experience in this instance). For the Sunday 3s, during an ignominious defeat, our saving grace came in the form of a 15-year-old self-proclaimed fast bowler called Abdul. After several long journeys in the past few weeks, the 3s were blessed with a lovely little trip to Marble Hill in Twickenham. The 33 bus from Barnes to Fulwell led us to a lovely park with an astro wicket and a quick outfield. It was the sort of pitch where you would love to win the toss, rack up an imposing total and skittle them in time to get to the clubhouse. Unfortunately, this happened to the wrong team. Yours truly strode out for the toss and, after a quick and rather arbitrary pitch inspection, I thought I would do the decent thing and lose the toss. Bowling first in a 10-a-side game. We could not have wished for a better start. The aforementioned Abdul struck in his first over, sheepishly asking for an LBW decision which was given/triggered by the umpire. The opener slumped off – we were buzzing. The next passage of play lasted around 25 overs. Two centuries, no wickets and a 250ish run partnership ensued. Normally, you might be able to put this down to Putney Sunday fielding and numerous wides. Not the case. We fielded and bowled admirably with very little luck. Everyone had a bowl and no one bowled badly. We just failed to break the partnership on an even wicket. Noman bowled tightly. Two catches for Sam and lots of running of the boundary was also worth a mention; it was a long day in the field but he never gave up! Towards the end, Zaeem took a wicket and then Abdul stepped up to show his prowess. He ended the day with four excellent wickets and even was on a hattrick at one point (thanks to an excellent boundary catch by Luke). Don’t worry, the hattrick will come one day – they are really difficult to get! Nevertheless, despite Abdul’s heroics, the oppo ended on 312 off 35 and had a steep chase. Still, I felt confident, such was the incredible vibe in the team. The oppo captain set up with 3 slip and a gully out of his 10 players and I thought we might be able to punish such hubris. Dolley and Momin looked good to start off with and Jack’s 43 was an excellent demonstration of putting the bowlers to the sword. Luke looked good in his innings before leaving a doosrah and with Manish still to come, I still had faith. The outfield had slowed. Guaranteed fours were being cut off, wickets kept falling and in the end we were all out for around 140 (I was too busy getting a red-inker to notice the actual score). Quite a loss, but we still felt proud of ourselves for our tenacity and resolve. The only thing left was to congratulate the club’s new find – what a debut, Abdul! MOTM – Adbul (obviously) DDJ – Noman TFC – no one needs this award in such a loss Champagne – Luke for his boundary catch |
Date | Time | Team | Opposition | Location | Putney | Opposition | Result | Scores | Points | Toss |
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13/09/2020 | 1.30pm | Sunday 3rd | Marble Hill | A | A | 0 |