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Last updated 18-Jun-2007.
Match Report
Gosport Away
On winning the toss, I put them in on an overcast day, although I had
decided on Monday that I was going to stick them in. Pitch looked the same
as last year, low and slow. Thinking it was ideal for our opening bowling
attack I had no hesitation. And so it proved, with Danny O and Les bowling
12 straight through. In 24 overs they had bowled 8 maidens between them
which is a top effort. Les got the initial breakthrough, bowling the opener
(who got 90* last year) via an inside edge. Danny got number 2. The other
opener had already patted out a couple of overs from Dan, when he decided to
try and blast it over the top. Great move, Jason taking a well judged catch
at mid off. Number 3 and 4 were starting to look well set. John Adams
playing well, until Les found a top edge which Oz caught diving an inch off
the floor at mid on. The catch was sensational! Matty again bowled with
good pace and bounce making the wicket look pretty good actually. He got
number 4 caught behind by Butters Millward (who kept absolutely superbly).
Jay bowled their number 3 for 36. Think he was happy with this one judging
by his celebration. That was over 30 and they were 83-5. We had to wait
til the 39th over to get number 6. Took a brave decision to take Matty off
while bowling very well to bring Robbo on. Lets say a few people were
interested by my decision. Luckily it paid off! Robbo taking a wicket
first ball, and then 3 in an over to help finish off the tail. Taking 4-14
off only 3 overs is a great effort! Jay stopped him getting number 5 by
trapping number 10 Lbw. In 4.1 overs we had taken 5 wickets and resticted
them to 147 all out.
So 148 to win was very doable. Myself and Oz opened up this week.
Thankfully I scored my first run away from home since game 1. The over that
probably defined our innings was as early as the second. Oz and I had spoken
about him hitting anything that was full as hard as he could. 2 beautifully
struck 4's later and their heads dropped instantly. We put on 40 before he
was Lbw for 25. In came Clinchy our run machine. Despite finding the pitch
tough at the start, he again played a solid innings to see us home. We put
on 45 before I was out caught in the gully for 38. PJ next at 4. Played a
deightful lofted drive for 4 before being ct at square leg for 4 (118-3).
In came Matty, who shared an unbeaten 30 Partnership with Clinchy to see us
home in the 32nd over. Matty finishing 5 not out and Clinchy hitting his
3rd 50 to finish 70* off just 61 balls. We won from a No ball (they had 3
men behind square when we were looking for a boundary to secure maximum
points). Never mind, 23 points against a previously unbeaten side was a
superb effort, with all the bowlers backing up my choice to bowl first,
allowing the batsman to score the runs at a comfortable rate under little
pressure. Well done lads.
Bondy
Another Match Report!
Bondy won the toss, which was a good one to win considering the amount rain we had during the week. The wicket was very slow and there was a strong wind blowing straight down the ground, so it was no surprise that I should get the end into the wind. Les had the first over and was his normal steady self and I the luck to have a left hander to bowl to and started with a maiden. Les made the breakthough in his 3rd over when their opener tried to cut one that was too close to him and he played onto his middle stump. I followed that up with getting the left-hander out caught at mid-off. As I've mentioned the pitch was slow and Dan decided to stand up to Les and was greeted with Les firing one down the leg side that resulted in a bye, which was the only bye of the innings. Dan had a fantastic game behind the stumps and the work he put in during the week with Les in the nets paid full dividends, he was staying down that fraction longer. Les and I bowled through and at the end of 24 overs Gosport had 64 for the loss of 3 wickets, Les picking up his second with the help of Ossie taking a very good catch diving forward. Matt replaced Les and Jason replaced me and both continued with some good tight bowling on a helpful pitch. Jason picked up the next wicket bowling the Gosport No 3 leg stump, who was looking to have mastered the conditions. Matt then got in on the act having the No 5 caught behind with one that bounced a little. Then Bondy made a strange decision and replaced Matt who had bowled 7 overs and beaten the bat on numerous occasions with Steve Roberts. Steve's first ball bowled their No 7 and the end of the Gosport innings was nigh. Steve's 3rd over effectively ended their innings, Dan stumped their No 6 with a good piece of glove work, then there was a catch at mid on and finally Steve managed to take a return catch, it's amazing how safe his hands are off his own bowling ;-). Jason wrapped things up in the next over getting a lbw which was probably one of the easier lbws to give. Although we bowled well our out fielding was not up to standard of previous weeks, with the exception of Dan behind the stumps.
So the target was 148, but we've all played in games where small targets are difficult to chase, it was important for us to concentrate at the start. This week Bondy and Ossie opened (Sam had work commitments) and Ossie started timing the ball from the start and looked in good touch, Bondy was finding it a little more difficult but fought it out. Gosport soon changed the bowling by taking off one of their opening bowlers and replacing him with a slower bowler that made timing the ball more difficult and the runs were started to dry up a little. With the score on 40 Ossie was out lbw, Clinchy came in and played himself in steadily. Bondy started to get the measure of this pitch and the drives that he loves to play were starting to find the middle of his bat. Clinchy just carried on from last week hitting the ball sweetly through mid-wicket all along the ground, great cricket. Bondy was the next out for a gutsy 38 and let's hope that's his turning point of the season and some big runs are just around the corner. The score was 95 and we needed another 53 to secure a very good win. Phil Journeaux had come down from the firsts to try and get some time at the crease but with the exception of a lofted drive over mid off his time in the middle was short lived being caught in close. Clinchy was looking rock solid and was timing the ball beautifully and saw us home and making a chanceless 70 off 61 balls which included two sixes. We tried to make 150 to pick up an extra point but with the scores tied Clinchy was bowled off a no bowl, because Gosport had three men behind square. A great win.
