Strongroom almost snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory
Highgate Wood, 9/4/2010
Strongroom won by 1 wicket
Pacific: 143 [D.Tempany 60]
Strongroom: 144-9 [O.Moore 41, Aroon 6-35]
View the Scorecard
Strongroom sneaked a cheeky victory by one wicket, this after looking comfortable at 65-0 chasing a modest total of 143. Our remarkable collapse was engineered by the loopy chinaman bowling of Korgaonkar [6-35], ably backed up by the sharp inswing of Webley [2-14]. However, we batted deep, and it was little surprise when the fearless and free-hitting combination of Ujjal and Joe put on 14 for the final wicket and slapped the winning runs.
Earlier in the day, Pacific skipper Tempany won the toss and batted first on a somewhat crumbly looking surface. Ujjal and Paddy hit their straps immediately, and soon enough Pacific were two down with not many on the board. This brought Webley and Bastin to the crease, and both batsmen played watchfully on what was proving to be a typically fickle Highgate surface. Dave Gower uncharacteristically dropped Webley from a firm off-drive off Ujjal, and heads dropped as we knew the importance of the wicket – but our disappointment was short-lived as both Webley and Bastin casually pulled the leg-spin of Sumer straight down the throat of Olly Moore, positioned at deep square-leg. Both Olly’s catches are worth a mention, as he had to run significant distances to make them, and judged them beautifully. A few more wickets fell at steady intervals, and Pacific were struggling somewhat until Tempany played a fine innings of 60, including some majestic and powerful straight 6s at each end. However, we did well in keeping him off the strike, to the extent that only 28 were added in their last 10 overs, and were finally dismissed for 143.
Tea: A Muswell Hill bakery medley of sandwiches, and I carved up a big watermelon, which was the most refreshing bit really.
The first 16 overs were steady in every respect. Brown and Smith bowled steadily, and Olly [41] and Rich [17] were equal to them in laying a fine platform of 65. However, the change in bowling brought about a sloppy collapse, and Pacific did very well to claw their way back into the game. In particular our batting against Korgaonkar was disappointing – how many times at this level have we seen someone toss it very high for batsmen to try and fail to swipe it out the ground? Anyway, it certainly worked for Korgaonkar who claimed 6 wickets and suddenly the game could go either way. But then Ujjal and Joe played in their typically positive way and we just...only just...got over the winning line.
A strange but entertaining game all in all!
Written By: J.Gower
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