Hackney Downs brings us up
Hackney Downs, 10/22/2022
Strongroom won by 6 wickets
Palm Tree: 91
Strongroom: 92-4
View the Scorecard
The cricket pitch at Hackney Downs is a typical locale for October Cup cricket. On the day of the competition’s finale, the artificial wicket was surrounded by a luscious carpet of almost knee-high grass. “Looks like a Keralan paddy field ready for harvest,” quipped Ramu, the opposition skipper. The dense outfield was littered with a majestic early autumn display of urban wildflowers: empty cans of Special Brew and used wet wipes sprang forth from the rain soaked ground. Random chunks of turf appeared to be missing, leaving dangerous potholes lying in wait to twist the ankle of an unsuspecting fielder.
I had my first successful toss after half a dozen failed attempts this season and duly elected to bowl first.
Scoring would be difficult here, as any shots along the ground would have to be powered through the dense undergrowth. It made the extremely short boundary on one side – defined by a rather sad looking flower bed – all the more inviting.
Nara, opening the batting for Palm Tree, certainly took notice and smashed anything in his arc far beyond the flower bed. When the other opener McAndrew joined in from the other end, it looked like we would be in for a long day. But, after Ankit had McAndrew out caught, Nick speared a beauty through Stabbins’ defences to bowl Palm Tree’s number three for a golden duck. We were in the game.
Then, tragedy struck. Sam came on for a whirl from the southern end but when moving to field a forward defensive off his very first ball he fell foul of one of the potholes and rolled his ankle. He knew immediately; his day was over.
Upendar stepped up to complete Sam’s over with his own off-breaks and began an impeccable seven over spell that yielded two wickets – including Nara – for just seven runs. From the other end, Nilesh was equally miserly, working through his full repertoire of swing and seam. His five overs returned 3-7 as he was cheered on with enthusiasm by his son Kevin who did an excellent job at fine leg in place of Sam.
Nilesh and Upendar together completely strangled Palm Tree’s innings. Despite a late rally led by Ramu, we kept their innings under control. I took full advantage of captain’s privileges to come on and mop up the last to wickets. Palm Tree all out for 91.
Coach Arun opened the chase with his student, Delin, who had kept wicket very tidily. Delin’s watchful defence and Arun’s punchy cuts and pulls repelled the threat of Palm Tree’s dangerous opening bowler Stabbins. Arun targeted the short flower bed boundary particularly effectively but got a little too greedy and skied a short ball from Stabbins that was impressively held at cover. This sparked a slow collapse. Rahees, Shane and Ankit came and went as Delin watched on from the other end. At 47-4 there was a semblance of jeopardy to our chase.
With Palm Tree’s premier pacer bowled out, however, I was ready to come in and play a captain’s knock against the change bowlers. Delin and I steadied the ship and we reached the target in the 20th over. Fittingly, Delin hit the winning runs. He played a remarkably composed innings for a batsman of just 14.
Thanks must go to Arun for making this fixture possible by providing four players from his stable of students: Shane, Delin, Unpendar and Nagarjuna, who picked up a wicket with medium pace and enjoyed the liquid refreshment of a nearby pub during the tea interval. We hope to see them all again next year.
And that’s it for the season. The October Cup is shared between Strongroom, Palm Tree and Pacific. Winter well (or tour well) to all.
In the image below we see the happy winning team.
Written By: B.Hartridge
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