Action Cricket Chronicles - fit the 11th

Wow! Damn, but that hurt.

Our opponents this time were the undefeated “Tarsus”; and we knew it would be tough. That said – the team we selected were strong, and we gave ourselves every chance of an upset. It wasn’t made any easier when half their team pitched up in Gauteng colours!

Once again we decided to field first. We knew from looking at the analysis that these guys were hot stuff in the field – so we needed to make sure that they scored a minimal amount. The bowling and fielding had to be spot on. Ruaan’s very first delivery managed to prise out a runout, and we were off to a flier. Indeed, the first over conceded just 8. Ettiene kept up the good work and with a catch off his last delivery kept them to just 4. Fred was smashed for a straight 4 off his second delivery, but kept it tight after that, and Darren managed to get another run out before the following ball was smashed for 6 in retaliation. So partnership up, and 33 runs on the board. Things needed to improve.

Well – improve they did, an extremely economical Colin forced a run out off his last delivery, before Darren was as tight as a ducks arse to concede just 5. Wayne put the icing on the cake with a run out first ball, before some pride was restored to their batting lineup with a straight 4. The final over was bowled by the energetic Ross, and a 4 three balls from the end was erased with a run out off the last ball; and 26 runs richer – the second pair departed.

In came their third pairing, and immediately started pinging nets before Wayne had one caught off the third ball of his first over. Colin was extremely economical once again, and with a catch off his second kept them to a mere 5. Kevin entered the attack and immediately deceived the batsman to clean his stumps up, before Ross finished off the pair with a run out off his final delivery to send them packing for 22.

The final two bats walked in, needing 19 to go past 3 figures. When Kevin had one caught off his penultimate ball – that target was looking unlikely. Fred bowled with furious pace, and aggression – frequently targeting the sensitive ribs, and produced a pearler to clean the batsman up first ball, and induce a run out off his penultimate. It needed a heroic effort from the rattled bats to post the 19 they required, and a smash off the third last ball of the innings to hit the back nets for 4 helped them get over the mark. Innings ended and a mere 102 the score.

So 103 to get – it would be tough. Just how tough our openers, Darren and Ross discovered. Mostly Darren, who was run out off his second last delivery of the first over, before being clean bowled then caught in successive balls one over later. A catch off the first ball of the third over really caused hassles, and the team was sitting at -5. A steady trickle erased the negative, but the total was going to be hardly exciting – a lonely 5 runs from the partnership and we were in severe distress.

Colin and Wayne took up the challenge, but when Wayne was run out first ball – things looked bleak. Fortunately – the partnership steadily rebuilt, until eventually Colin launched into one to send it high over the heads for 6. The joy was short lived tho’, and the final over saw some unbelievable glove-work by the opponents with 3 stumpings split over 2 wides to end the over without a single run off the bat, and 5 less runs on the board. The partnership had finished with just 19.

Our third pair walked in with a massive job to do – 80 still to get, and only 8 overs to get them in. Kevin and Fred went to work, slowly building up steam until a smart bit of work saw Fred stumped in the second over. Kevin watched the ball swing like a pendulum to end up stumped twice in the next over before some solid batting saw the partnership end with no further damage, and 24 runs to the better. It was a valiant effort, but too little too late.

The final pair walked in with an impossible task – 58 needed, and no time left. When Ruaan was cleaned by a scorcher third up, the drama was almost complete. Not even a huge six from his bat two overs later could resurrect the chase, and although Ettiene continually rotated the strike, the big nets remained out of reach. The final over saw a huge number of gift runs with 3 extras in a row, but the game was up already by that time. 24 added, and only 70 on the board.

It was a heavy defeat, but since it was against what looked like ex provincial players, and some seriously quick wicket keeping, there are lots of positives to take out of it.

Man of the Match would be Colin, who tried valiantly for his 15 runs, and managed 2 for 9 from his bowling.