Another weekend that fortunately for this match was played on the Sunday and not the usual Saturday as it would most certainly have been rained off but for this.
Due to game being played on the Sunday, Marress fielded there strongest team so far this season. The team were very confident that they could and should win.
It was a day in which the toss was probably not too important and the Marress Captain was unsure what to do. That decision was taken away from him as the coin landed on heads and he lost the toss and was forced to field first.
The game got off to a slow but deliberate start from the opposition and they just plodded away against the bowling of Mike & David Ingram.
After 9 overs Mike knew he had to make changes as neither bowler was doing anything special.
This introduced the first change and on came Josh Conway.He cleaned bowled the opener in his first over and 5 balls later Josh had the other opener back in the house, thanks to a great catch by Scott Wilson. Later in his spell saw Josh get an edge of the next batsmens bat and he was caught by the new star wicketkeeper Robbie Ferguson.
At the other end there was very little support bowling and the Captain tried out Sachin & Sharp without any success.
With Josh showing signs of fatigue after humping around the excess pounds that he has gained over the winter, the Captain made the change that everybody was anticipating. Yes the intoduction of top wicket taker Chaitanya.
Within 8 deliveries he had his first wicket thanks to a spectacular catch from the flying Craig Sharp. He managed to turn a certain 4 ball into the finest catch this season(yes even better than Derek Parks earlier in the season). It was flying over his head when Craig stretched out his arm and managed to claw onto it like an eagle grabbing its prey.(Absolutely Grrrrrreat!).
Next ball and Chatty had his man LBW and a familiar pattern was developing. The Hillhead men were reeling on 78 for 5 and Marress were cruising.
2 overs later and Chatty had 2 more batsmen cleaned bowled and Hillhead were 84 for 7 and sinking quicker than the Titanic.
Somehow Hillead battled away and they held out and it took a further 12 overs before another wicket was taken, it was a catch that was taken like the great PELE, MR.Derek Park managed to chest the ball first, then nontchally plucked it from between his ample Double D's and this left Hillhead on 119 for 8.
In the 44th over David Ingram got another wicket as the Grrrreat Sharp took a fine catch, 132 for 9.
Sadly the Marress side were unable to make that final breakthrough and the Hillhead side finished on 146 for 9. A score that Marress thought was well within there capabilitty.
Tea was taken and the batting lineup was announced. In hind site this was the Captains first mistake of the day, he elected to move himself down the order to no.8 and give other batsmen the chance to show their potential. At the time the Captain had no worries about the lineup and was fairly confident that his team should be able to get the runs required.
The openers were Sachin & Chaitanya and it only took 9 deliveries before Mudunuri was caught playing a dreadful shot. The Marress men were 6 for 1.
This introduced Scott Wilson and both batsmen were doing well when Scott was cleaned bowled with the score on 34.
David Ingram came to the crease next and both batsmen looked comfortable for a while until David played a poor shot and lobbed it straight into there hands leaving the team on 49 for 3.
At this moment Mike was unsure wether to change the batting order and move himself up the order, but decided not to in the end.
Craig sharp entered the arena next and was quickly on his way back to the house with a poor shot also, Marress were now 53 for 4.
As Mike watched with disbelieve as his team crumbled, Derek Park also came and went with only 6 runs being added 59 for 5.
All along Sachin defended for his life and was doing a fine job until he succumbed to the pressure of the tight bowling and was given LBW (PLUMB) with the score now on 65 for 6.
Disaster was upon us and only one man could save the day. MR reliable Mike Ingram (Captain Birdseye, Mannering or is it Pugwash).
Mike entered the arena with only one other recognised batsmen still to come to the crease and knew he would have to start to HOGG the strike and protect the batsmen.
Mike batted with Josh Conway for a short while until Josh was bowled with the score now 97 for 7. This would then bring in the last recognised batsman Ronnie Gilliland.
At this time Mike was unsure how to approach the match, they only need another 60 runs to win, but he knew he could not afford to take too many chances. Lose his wicket and they would almost certainly lose the match.
Unfortunately as the score moved onto 108, Ronnie was caught by a great catch and this tipped the balance into Hillhead's favour.
It left Mike with young 15 year old Robbie Ferguson and there was still 8 overs to go needing 39 to win.
Mike decided tactics with Robbie and it was a case of trying to score with the first 4-5 deliveries and scramble a single from the last ball.
To Robbies credit he did a fantastic job, he not only backed up very well, but defended some nasty deliveries.
Mike attacked when he could, but with 3 overs to go knew the total was too big and the risks of going for it were too high, so he set about playing for the draw and managed to get the score up to 136 before being bowled off the last ball of the day.
This left the match drawn.
Sadly it was a good draw in the end, but with the team that was selected it should have been a win.
Batting Stats
Sachin 17
C.Mudunuri 4
S.Wilson 9
D.Ingram 10
C.Sharp 1
D.Park 6
J.Conway 8
M.Ingram 45
R.Gilliland 5
R.Ferguson 0 not out
136 for 9
Bowling Stats
M.Ingram 8 - 2 - 13 - 0
D.Ingram 11 - 3 - 22 - 2
J.Conway 6 - 2 - 14- 3
C.Sharp 6 - 1 - 21 - 0
Sachin 7 - 0 - 24 - 0
C.Mudunuri 13 - 2 - 20 - 4
146 for 9
Mike Ingram
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment