Simply a wonderful game
Highgate Wood, 3/9/2022
Strongroom won by 80 runs
Strongroom: 221-9
Elite: 141
View the Scorecard
This turned out to be a truly wonderful game of cricket, in so many ways. DP won the toss and we batted first against what was a new and unknown opposition (replacing the absent Jesmond Jaguars). Myself (22) and Ben (23) got off to a decent start, and Ben in particular punctured the ring of five fielders on the offside with some regularity, feasting off some short fare from Nil. Finally Nil got one to zoom in and trap Ben in front, and was then replaced by the classy Rasheed (33) who sensibly adjusted himself to a horribly misbehaving surface. Myself and Rasheed steered The Room to 86-1, and then a few loose shots later we found ourselves 86-5, and things were looking decidedly shit-shaped. However, our tail wagged with vigour, with Arif (40), Guy (20) and DP (18*) all stepping up to the occasion. The partnership between Guy and DP was a particular joy, as these two veterans battled with their creaking frames and managed to block, blitz and bludgeon their way to an unlikely final score of 221-9.
The Elite opener Jayneet was very composed, and again as last week, we struggled to make early inroads in good conditions for swing bowling. Jerome in particular got the ball to talk and removed their number three, and Arif was tidy if a little unthreatening at the other end. Ilyas executed two brilliant run outs at point - the first of which was a stunning direct throw targeting one stump, and somehow the noisy delirium these two wickets prompted gave us the psychological edge. Ilyas also bowled a very tidy spell from the non-scorers-shed-end, and Rahees produced a brilliant, slow yorker to remove their dangerous opening bat, and then Jerome joined in the run out festival. Sam released his personal human windmill and snared a wicket, much to his rampaging joy. Through all of this, Nara was standing up to all the bowlers behind the stumps, which was quite an achievement. Two champagne moments followed: a hobbling DP took a wonderful running catch at mid-wicket, pocketing the ball over his shoulder, hair bobbing like a teenager on a bumper car; I then provided some entertainment by needlessly diving to stop a ball reaching the cover boundary and in so doing slammed my face into the turf while simultaneously executing a dysfunctional forward roll. The eventual margin of victory (80 runs) was an unfair reflection of the quality of both sides, but this was a memorable game in that all of our team contributed something, and the oppo were a very pleasant bunch who we will surely meet again.
In the image below we see Guy giving Ben some scoreboard assistance.
Written By: J.Gower
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