Match Report vs Cavaliers
06 June 2021 @ Pontcanna(Skipper Rob, report Jim)
We all know how strange the world, and our lives, became
in 2020, so it’s been great to see that the New Year
has started to move back towards something close to normality
– including the return of the annual Sunday fixture
between the Casuals and the Cavaliers! What a day it was for
it as well. Dry, sunny, hot and a pitch at Pontcanna that
had very few demons in it! The last fixture played between
these two long-term rivals was the 2019 Willow League Cup
Final, where the Cazh took home the trophy – would the
Cavs make amends for that in this game?
In the build-up, the Cazh looked like they were struggling
to get a team together, but managed to find an 11, with Mat
Cullen stepping up to make his first appearance since 2019
along with two debutants – Jack Lyons and Rhys Davies,
the latter of whom was found for us by the Cavs, something
that they may regret!
Anyway, on to the game itself. Cavs won the toss and, on
such a hot, sunny day with a dry, flat track, elected to bowl
– brave decision. The two debutants strode out to open
up the Cazh innings and, with a right- and left-hand combination,
rotated strike well and punished the bad balls that came their
way. JL was the first to fall, though, caught at mid-off trying
to slap a full toss out the park in the 9th over, with the
score on 45. Will, back to his customary number 3 spot, came
out and set about building a partnership with Rhys, both looking
at ease against any delivery they faced. There was even a
moment where Rhys gave Will a taste of his own medicine, and
took a single on the last ball of the over! Both, however,
continued to find the boundary, helped by some Cav mis-fields
and full tosses – Will in particular benefitted from
this, taking 20 off one over with two 4s and two 6s!
With the score passing 150 just after drinks, and both batsmen
reaching their half centuries, the Cavs finally got the breakthrough,
Will caught going for one shot too many, leaving the score
on 156-2 after a partnership of 111! In came Ben, who supported
Rhys in pushing for runs and building a big total. A partnership
built that took the Cazh total past 200. Rhys was finding
the boundary well, whilst Ben rotated strike excellently,
although would’ve scored more boundaries if it wasn’t
for the outfield. With one final single, Rhys got through
for a superb debut century, before deciding to retire (out
of tiredness and thirst), which brought Foxy to the crease,
given a batting promotion by the skipper. No sooner was he
in, however, that he was then out, caught behind with a thick
edge, with the score on 209-3 after 35 overs. This meant the
skipper came in and, with 5 overs to go, worked the ball into
gaps well to keep the score ticking, whilst Ben finally started
finding the boundary, before a bit of standard Cazh cricket
saw Ben run out on the last ball of the innings, with the
final total 237-4 off 40 overs.
Rhys 100ret
JL ct20
Will ct50
Ben ro32
Foxy ct0
Rob no13
DNB: James, George, Goff, Pabs, Maxy
A slightly longer tea break was taken, allowing members of
both teams to quickly dash to a local shop to stock up on
fluids, due to the searing heat, whilst others needed to apply
the sun cream before they became redder than the ball being
used! Once the necessary preparations were complete, the Cazh
took to the field, with Goffy opening the bowling from the
River Taff end and Maxy from the Cathedral Road end (when
in the shadow of Sophia Gardens, may as well used these names).
Both were steady, holding their line and length well, with
the pitch still offering little to the bowlers. The Cavs also
looked to capitalise on a right- and left-hand combination,
with the left hander going for more powerful shots, whilst
the right hander (no prizes for guessing who) looked to rotate
striker by playing through third man. With the score on 50
after 10, the Cavs were behind the rate but had all their
wickets in hand, until the change of bowling. With Pabs replacing
Goffy, a mix-up between the batsmen gave Rob the chance to
throw to the bowler’s end, with Pabs taking the bails
off to send the left hander packing.
With Rob now on at the Cathedral Road end, the Cavs run rate
began slowing down, with the pitch starting to show some turn
and slight uneven bounce, making the challenge tough for the
batsmen. The Cazh found it tough as well, with half-chances
just evading fielders. Just before drinks, though, a chance
finally found a man, with a lofted drive from the opener off
Pabs finding itself safely into Will’s bucket hands
at long-off. 91-2 at drinks gave the Cazh the knowledge that
the run rate was escaping the Cavs, but this also led to some
tired looking fielding, as the sun had started to wear the
players down. The bowlers persevered though, with Pabs picking
up a wicket in his final over, bowling the number 3 bat, before
Rob managed to get the number 4 caught by Maxy in the next
to leave the Cavs on 118-4 with 14 overs remaining. Will and
George replaced entered the attack, which saw 3 more wickets
fall in 3 overs, Will bowling the number 5, whilst George
had the number 6 caught behind by James before bowling the
number 8. With 10 to go, the Cavs were well short on 140-7,
with a maiden over from Will effectively killing off the game,
as the innings coasted to an end with the Cavs finishing on
191-7 off their 40 overs, the Casuals winning by 46 runs!
Goffy 6-0-25-0
Maxy 7-0-37-0
Pabs 8-1-43-2
Rob 8-0-22-1
Will 3-1-9-1
George 5-0-30-2
Foxy 2-0-9-0
Ben 1-0-12-0
Catches – James, Maxy, Will
Run Outs – Rob
After the game, the lack of shower facilities was felt heavily
by some players, but the feeling of a cold pint in the Pontcanna
Inn as the sun set gave the Cazh a good bit of respite after
the hottest game of the season so far!
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