Salix CC won by 69 runs
The annual Salix
fixture traditionally delivers a scorching day and a run fest. This has been no
ordinary summer though, and heavy rain on Saturday had left both pitch and
outfield looking distinctly on the soft side. It certainly wasn’t to be a run
fest either, especially where the Whalers were concerned, but more of that
later.
With the pitch
looking like a bit of a sticky dog, the toss could perhaps have been filed as a
‘good one to lose’ and lost it duly was by Captain Hanmer,
and we were fielding. And it started very well for us with probing opening
spells from the Osgood and Gould. An early wicket for Osgood provided the first
breakthrough, and change bowlers Kirkness and
Clipsham carried forward the good start, with Ed in particular bowling an
excellent spell picking up an lbw and a tidy catch by Dario in the covers. At
drinks Salix were 45-3 off 18 overs and struggling.
The slow bowling
options of Hanmer and English were introduced after
the break, and as Salix looked to push the rate along, runs began to flow more
freely for the first time in the game. Ads picked up one courtesy of a running
catch from Ed, culminating in a hurdle of the stumps and a bear hug, and Pip
after taking some initial punishment found some impressive control and two
classical leg-spin wickets with a bowled and a sharp catch from Dario at first
slip.
At the other end
however Salix’s Rayner was starting to accumulate
runs nicely and played a decisive innings in the context of the game. He took a
particular liking to the captain’s fourth over. After a return catch was put
down off the first ball (off own bowling, their highest scorer, football
fielding) Rayner proceeded to take the next five
balls for 20 runs. Gould returned to take three wickets, two with long-hops
both lackadaisically caught by Hanmer, and one with a
beauty that finally got rid of Rayner for 64. With
Dan tidying up the tail Salix were all out for 147.
At tea the
consensus was that the target was definitely achievable, especially as the
pitch looked to be drying out nicely. A solid start was required though, and it
wasn’t to be as the top three of Terrell, VDP and Forte managed only 8 between
them, and when Child was run out without scoring we were in deep trouble at
27-4. Dickenson and Hanmer looked to nurse the
Whalers to drinks and regroup, but it wasn’t to be as Ads perished for 10 with
a non-textbook stroke just before drinks and at 18 overs
Whalers were 50-5.
Credit must go to
Salix here for their outstanding bowling, extremely consistent and accurate.
They bowled only one wide and no no balls compared to
our count of 7 and 11 respectively. Pip and Al made a solid start after drinks,
but with the pressure mounting on the run rate Al was caught at mid-on for a
boundary-less 21 and Pip followed soon after run out by a direct hit for 15.
The game was pretty much up by then, a few lusty hits from Ed’s Powerbow delayed the end slightly, but Dan and Clippy failed to trouble the scorers leaving Gouldy stranded and wondering if he’ll ever get an average
this year.
And so the
Whalers second scorebook came to a very disappointing conclusion, as the
Whalers were beaten by Salix for the first time since 2001, and comprehensively
at that. Not for the first time the Whaler’s batting couldn’t deal with the
pressure of accurate bowling. Food for thought for the rest
of the season.
Match
stats:
Salix CC
146 – James 3-30, Dan 2-16, Ed 2-17
Whalers CC
77 – Al 21
Man of the match: Ed
– 2 wickets, a great catch, and some runs
Champagne moment: Dario’s
one-handed slip catch
Muppet moment: Ad’s final
over.