Action Cricket Chronicles - fit the 5th

Action Cricket fan’s welcome to your weekly wrap up.

Friday was the scene of yet another exciting game. Once more, our intrepid captain won the toss, and this time, with the lights shining down, decided to field. The team gathered at the top of the wicket, bowed our heads (mostly in prayer) and let the halls ring to the sound of our war-cry: Woes.

The openers stepped out and nervously took up guard; while Fred pawed at the ground and a tiny lick of flame appeared out of his left nostril. Three balls later, the ball shot off the outside edge, bounced off the net and nestled eagerly in my cupped hands. What a start! The first over saw 1 down for just 3. Ruaan took up the challenge, and buoyed by the fire of the first over, struck with his very first ball – running out the non-striker. His final delivery was just as good, beating the attempted walk down the track, and allowing Colin the opportunity to demolish the stumps. Two overs down, and just 4 runs. Brilliant. Kevin and Danie finished off the first pair, gifting a few runs; and allowing a straight four of the last ball of the skin. But still – the first pair had made a miserable 33.

On came a second pair, and young Jeff took up the bowling attack. A straight six off the last ball of his over spoiled the figures slightly; and then it was the turn of yours truly to do battle. Immediately, there were dividends; and some sharp fielding saw the stumps fly with the batsman well short of his ground. Two balls later, and a carbon copy. So 2 wickets in the over, and -1 to the score. Danie finished up his allotted overs next, recovering from a smashed six off his first ball to only give up 14 runs; and then it was the turn of Colin to finish the pair off. 9 runs later, and they trudged back having added another 33.

The next pair were faced with young Darren, and although no wickets fell – he did only concede 9 runs. Kevin entered the attack, and unfortunately, the batters were finding the nets with ease, pinching 10 runs from the over. Jeff took over the challenge, and although the net’s dried up, a huge boundary off the final ball turned the over into a decent one for them; and it was up to young Dazzler, with his final over to try and stem the flood. A straight six of the first ball didn’t help – but he found the perfect line after that, and it eventually paid dividends with an excellent catch taken off the last delivery helping to limit the partnership to just 39.

The final batting pair wandered in (having carelessly misplaced a player) and Colin’s excellent line provided the opportunity for another run out on the 5th delivery. A final ball boundary restored some pride to the batters, and then I once more took up the ball – hoping for a repeat of my first over. It was not to be; and despite a beauty that pegged back off stump on the 5th ball of the over – they snuck 7 more runs, and it was up to Ruaan to stem the flow. 2 balls later, and the stumps were sent flying. A further 2 balls later; and again the furniture was disturbed with the batsman way out of his crease. Fred took up the challenge of closing their innings down; and although no wickets fell – only 11 runs came from the final slog; and with 35 more on the board, the innings was brought to a close.

So 142 was the target – pretty mammoth, and entirely due to lack of penetration with the ball. Could our bats live up to the pressure?

Fred and Kevin walked out with steely determination glittering in their eyes. Risk free cricket is what was produced, and with singles being nudged, nets being found and flawless running; they walked out 4 overs later with ALL wickets intact, and 45 runs on the board. We were off to a flyer!

Unfortunately – I was next up. My batting partner was the young Dazzler, and after a nudged single, it was me to face. A brilliant yorker was produced and the middle stump clattered out of the ground. Bowled first ball – oh the shame. A run out 2 balls later; and the score board had hardly moved by the end of the over. The grove started to come back after that horrendous start, but when the ball edged off the inside half of the bat and landed on my leg stump the rot was too far gone. I managed to haul myself up to an even zero; but if it wasn’t for Dazzle on the other end finding the boundary steadily we would have had very little to take from the partnership. We did manage to add 15 before the torture ended.

Colin and Danie were next up; and their bowlers were tasting success. Wickets tumbled, and so despite numerous boundaries being struck by Colin, the partnership added just 21; and we were up against it.

Ruaan and Jeff made up the final pairing; and with a hopeless task before them, they settled on the brave approach. Hardly any wickets, a steady trickle (rather than a gusher) of runs, 25 for the partnership; and we had crossed over the 100 barrier; but fallen 30 odd short of the target. Kudos must go to the team for the fight they showed, and the fact that we crossed over the century mark. It may have been a loss, but it wasn’t all bad.

Till next time.