Tight team effort secures another victory
Highgate Wood, 6/13/2009
Strongroom won by 74 runs
Strongroom: 145-9 [J.Kelly 43]
Palm Tree: 71 [O.Moore 4-19, S.Ray 4-7]
View the Scorecard
Opposition skipper Steve Russell won the toss and asked Strongroom to bat on a green-tinged surface, courtesy of heavy rain earlier in the week. Tim Francis [13] and Jules Kelly [43] did well to negotiate the dibbly-dobbly opening attack of Hemsley and Dreyter, which though looking harmless enough from the boundary, was actually difficult to get off the square due to their nagging accuracy and the slow, tennis ball bounce. This placid encounter continued up until the 12th over, when Tim lobbed a mis-timed pull into the hands of square leg [35-1]. By now it was not at all clear what a good total would be on this track against a slow attack, and Will was another victim of the Woods stodginess as he popped up a catch to short cover. Jules was the only batsmen of either innings who managed to dominate proceedings, making a conscious effort to stride forwards and strike good length balls confidently to the boundary. He was looking well set for a 50+ innings when he was adjudged LBW again, for the 3rd consecutive innings. By now Palm Tree were rotating their bowling attack, and the pace became slower and slower, but this appeared to make our batting even more befuddled. Oliver, myself and Simon all played ‘nothing shots’ to fairly innocuous deliveries, and the gentle combination of Russell and Tossell had effectively teased out our middle order. At 100-8 off 25 overs we were in serious trouble, but fortunately Proctor and Higginson came to the rescue with a record 40-run partnership for the 9th wicket. Both batsmen dug in and showed good composure as they battled to get Strongroom back into a competitive situation, as well as fulfil our quota of 40 overs. A final total of 145-9 was seemingly way off our usual target of 180, but perhaps the wicket would be awkward for both teams?
Tea: A highly respectable Muswell Hill bakery affair, imported in by Guy Wilson.
Strongroom were buoyed up for the Palm Tree innings, fuelled by a sense of disappointment at our modest total and a readiness to extend our unbeaten run. Fortunately our optimism was matched by some brilliant bowling and out-fielding, which saw Palm Tree sink to 71 all out in 35 overs. Setting the tone from the outset was a superlative 16-over opening spell by Messrs Gabbay [8-1-16-0] and Moore [8-1-19-4], who both bowled tight off-stump lines and never let the batsmen relax. Gabbay was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket, but Oliver made up for that at the other end, with the first scalp falling to a sharp catch by J.Gower at wide mid-off. 1st change Tom Higginson ensured there was no respite, and his relentless accuracy yielded the miserly figures of 8-3-11-1. Opener Jonty Tennison [35] was the only Palm Tree batsmen to truly dig deep and work with the vagaries of the surface, and very nearly carried his bat for the entire innings – only to have a pumped Simon Ray splatter his stumps to conclude the rout. Ray [4.1-0-7-4] claimed an LBW with his first delivery, and clean bowled the next three – demonstrating that fatherhood had diminished neither his pace nor ability.
The Strongroom bowling and fielding was outstanding in this game – as was Marc Talbot’s keeping behind the stumps. Overall we were mightily pleased to win from such a position, but it was clear that this was a somewhat weakened Palm Tree XI, and so we expect a tougher ‘return’ fixture next Sunday.
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