Match Report: Spencer C vs LDCC, Sunday 1st June
An early start in a recreation ground off Merton High Street saw caffeine-deprived parents contemplate for a while as to whether they’d arrived at the right venue. Yes was the answer, and no the opposition were not girls as expected.
Losing the toss LDCC were put into bat. Adwait and Hari opened the innings in the warm sunshine and Adwait placed a lovely shot to the boundary before being judged out LBW. The score 9 – 1. Tom joined Hari at the crease and the pair displayed some good running between the wickets amidst a tight fielding ring before Tom was bowled, 18 – 2. Hari looked well settled and together with Tommy found the gaps with some classy shots to the boundary whilst adding to the singles rate. With the score creeping up nicely Tommy was bowled by a stunning in-swinging ball. 44 – 3. Hari had donned Luke’s mantle of stickability and was joined next by Ben. Sadly 2 runs later the glue dried up and Hari was caught and bowled, leaving the field with a top score of 15 runs. Guy ambled to the crease and then surprisingly replaced his normal laid-back approach with an unrecognisable sense of urgency – and speed… Finding the middle of the bat he and Ben picked up the pace of the game with some well placed 4s and took Brian’s longstanding suggestion of ‘going for the singles’ to heart. Throwing caution to the wind they took some pretty racy chances off no-balls and overthrows, nervy viewing for spectators until Guy’s luck ran out courtesy of a direct hit to the stumps. A partnership worth 31, score now at 77 – 5. Ben stayed in for a little longer supported by Luke before being caught. An extraordinary leaf tornado whirled round the rec interrupting play, and concentration perhaps, as Luke, Aaron (having scored 6 well-deserved runs) and Callum fell swiftly to some expert fielding. Sean was the batsman not out, LDCC: 84 – 9 off 20 overs.
Ben and Tommy formed the opening pairing for the first five overs. Ben bowled an excellent opener amongst what can be only described as a bewildering fielding fiasco – 2 missed chances to run the batsmen out. Tommy rallied the startled troops, and the fielders began to make amends – a great mid-air stop from Sean, and fabulously acrobatic curtailing of certain boundaries from Aaron, James, Tom and Hari. Dog-walkers and lycra-clad runners circled the rec whilst buses slid down the High Street unaware of the mounting pressure on the field of play. The batsmen’s progress was eventually halted in the 5th over off Ben’s bowling and Sean’s direct hit at the stumps. 17 – 1. The batsmen settled once more and the scoreboard ticked over and upwards in spite of Sean bowling a maiden, and Tom mixing it up a bit. A potential game-changing flurry of excitement was prompted by Tommy in the 10th over. 2 run-outs aided by Adwait’s stumping off a well-judged throw-in from Hari, and a fabulous stump-shattering blow from Luke. 51 – 3. Man-of-the-moment Luke looked like turning the game on its head with a clean bowled wicket in the 13th over, and following it up with another in the 15th – off an amazing slow-motion catch by Tom. Spectators held their breath as the ball flew towards the fielder in the cool shades… had he seen it? Then up went the arm as the ball was effortlessly plucked out of the air. Marvellous. 76 – 5. Sadly it was not to be enough, in the 16th over Spencer reached their winning target of 85 runs. An entertaining encounter played in good spirit.
Thanks to Brian for his unfailing stoicism and Simon for his ever diligent scoring.