Match Report vs Malpas
13th August 2023 @ Malpas (Skipper Rob, report Liam)
It was a wet rainy day as we arrived onto the Malpas cricket
ground. Walking around the pitch to get to the changing rooms
without getting covered in mud was challenging enough but
nothing could prepare us for the type of opponent we were
about to face. It was clear from the relaxed nature of the
opposing side as they listened to music laughed and joked
around they were not too stressed by this fixture, why? well
we are soon to find out.
With R.Owens as captain we went out to bowl first, the run
ups for the bowlers looking damp and dangerous for someone
with no spikes. Opening bowlers D.Lewis and L.warren looked
ready to attack this youthful but what seemed very experienced
batting line up. The first 2 overs looked like a promising
site as they only went for 9 in total but it was downhill
from there. D.Lewis looked ever closer to picking up a wicket
but none came until L.Warren bowled a pie and the batsmen
was caught at mid off, HOWEVER a very late no ball call after
some long discussion between the two umpires ruled out the
hope of breaking the opening partnership. With both opening
bowlers not taking a wicket and going for a total of 76 off
5 overs each captain Owens decided to bring on the veteran
pair of spin bowlers of P.Stephens and D.Thomas.
There was no breakthrough for the veteran pair until Malpas
retired their opening pair for hitting a combined total of
104, the 16th over is when D.Thomas finally took the first
wicket (score currently sat at 104-1) Caught by S.O'Reilley.
The term "with one comes many" does not apply to
this situation as batsmen 4 (who was apparently a former Jamaican
international and was dropped on the boundary by L.Warren
after smashing the ball over the fence and into the road countless
times) and batsmen 5 also retired scoring a combined 103.
Batsmen 6 was bowled by N.Bhatt for just 14 and batsmen 7
was also dismissed by N.Bhatt, this time it was caught by
L.warren who manged to injure himself in the process of catching
the ball, landing awkwardly after jumping for the catch L.Warren
was unable to field and was bound to the sidelines (Still
took the catch so thats all that matters). Batsmen 8 and 9
were both dismissed by the returning opener D.Lewis 8 via
LBW and 9 was bowled. With L.Warren on the sidelines Captain
R.Owens turned to N.Bhatt to return and try and take the final
wicket. HE DID, batsmen 10 was caught by D.Lewis giving N.Bhatt
a 3 wicket haul for the day.
Final score 279
D.Lewis 8-0-2-42
L.Warren 5-0-0-48
P.Stephens 4-0-0-22
D.Thomas 8-0-1-92
N.Bhatt 8-0-3-31
S.O'Reilley 6-0-0-37
After a nice tea break and a wild Rich appearing the CAZH
went into bat.
The opening pair of J.Beaumont and D.White strolled out to
the middle hoping to put some runs on the board and make this
chase a less daunting task. That didnt go quite to plan as
D.White was dismissed with second ball he faced scoring just
1. But not to worry as this is where the story gets exciting!!!
Out walked our resident Rupert A.K.A R.Sayers.When i say this
batting partnership gave us hope i mean it as the first runs
R.Sayers scored was a big 6 hit straight over the fence and
into the road. This partnership looked unbeatable scoring
sixes fours singles. They were running rampant, with the technicality
of J.Beaumont and the sluggish style of R.Sayers the score
was racing up. R.Sayers looked as good as the opposing sides
Jamaican international hitting the ball over the fence more
times than i can count. But as always, all good things must
come to an end as R,Sayers goes to hit one over the fence
once more but is caught on the boundary at mid off. Apologies
to all readers as my words do not do justice to how good this
partnership really was, they were so close to breaking the
Cazh record of 2nd wicket partnership scoring 162 falling
just 4 runs short of the top spot.
Batsmen 4 was S.O'Reilley who lived up to his name and was
out with a Golden Duck.
Sadly Batsmen 5 P.Dean went in a similar fashion going for
a duck after facing 5 balls.
In walked the Captain R.Owens a man that could give us a slither
of hope once again as he met J.Beaumont in the middle who
has watched the wickets fall all around him. This partnership
got off to a good start with a few runs flowing until R.Owens
was bowled. With the score at 207 there was still a little
bit of hope (until you remember who is left to come in to
bat)
Batsmen 7 was none other than the injured L.Warren who hobbled
out to the middle like a younger, taller, more handsome Nathan
Lyon but with none of the cricketing ability. With the anchor
Man J.Beaumont struggling to get off strike as his partner
couldnt run quick singles he finally faced the ball that got
him out. Scoring 98 he may have fallen short of his century
but he didnt fall short of being one of the heroes the Cazh
needed on the day. In came Batsmen 8 otherwise known as D.Lewis.
Now in the middle are to men that cant run, L.Warren with
his injured foot and D.Lewis with his previously injured knee.
The gameplan was clear. SLOG. However with the before mentioned
lack of cricketing ability L.Warren has he miss timed his
shot and was Caught & Bowled. Batsmen 9 strolled out to
the crease (P.Stephens) and D.Lewis Kept to his gameplan and
scored a flurry of Fours until he was caught behind. P.Stevens
wasnt far behind him walking back to the changing rooms after
being caught. so to face the final balls that were left was
Batsmen 10 and 11. N.Bhatt and D.Thomas. scoring 3 between
them the final ball was bowled and the game was over. The
Cazh made a good game of it but fell short in the end scoring
a total of 231. But the real story of the day was that heroic
partnership of J.Beaumont and R.Sayers. the lads dug in and
gave the Cazh hope. They may not have broken the record but
they will still go down in the history books with a valiant
display of batting.
J.Beaumont-98
D.White-1
R.Sayers-85
S.O'Reilley-0 (golden duck)
P.Dean-0
R.Owens-11
L.Warren-1
D.Lewis-17
P.Stephens-1
N.Bhatt-2
D.Thomas-1
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