July 2015

On a day when only 5 wickets fell (and one fielder, namely Den who intercepted a throw by Jonathan with his head and had to be taken temporarily to hospital where thankfully no lasting damage was found), Richard made no mistake this week in making his maiden ton for the club when in reply to Mayfield’s 197 for 3 he batted through the innings for an unbeaten 132 not out and with Phil P (60no) saw the Ives to a magnificent win by 8 wickets  with 6 overs to spare in an unbroken 3^rd wicket stand of 176 in 24 over.

Earlier having been reduced to 9 men in the field as Andy H chauffeured Den to hospital, Ciaran took 2 for 32 aided by catches by Phil K and Jonathan and Saqib took the only wicket to fall, but that was only the hors d’oeuvre to the main course that followed.

On a hard, fast track Adelaide Southgate quickly got into their stride with 50 on the board in 8 overs and a score of 300 looking on the cards at one point as their openers put on nearly 150 in quick time before the first wicket fell to Richard, caught behind by Bob.  From there some semblance of order was restored, albeit the innings closed on 247 for 6 in 40 overs, with 2 wickets for Adrian and 1 each for Richard, Andy H and Ciaran with a well taken one handed gulley catch by Den and another by Adrian. Mention must also be made of Earle;s fielding at deep mid off throughout the innings.

After an excellent tea Adrian and Richard opened the Ives reply and after a first over maiden Richard took the game to the bowlers with 50 coming up in only 5 overs of which Adrian’s contribution was 3.  However with the score on 92 and Richard on 73 a misjudged call lead to Richard running himself out when  a ton looked definitely on.  Andy H kept the score ticking along with a quick 19 and Adrian likewise to keep a win in sight. However the increasing run rate eventually became to much despite 26 from Earle and 16 from Den and once Adrian departed for 43 the innings fell away to close on 209.

Despite the defeat an enjoyable game all round.

Different captain, same result at the toss as Bob lost and Ives were asked to field.

After a couple of economic overs from Earle it was Saqib (6 overs 0 for 25) and Andy H (8 overs 1 for 21) who managed to keep the Arkley batting in reasonable check early on with Andy taking the first wicket with 40 on the board. However in a time game Arkley pressed on and looked at one point as if they would post 200 plus at tea. But with Richard bowling an excellent marathon spell of 13 overs and Matthew being brought end at the end the two of them vied for the first 5 wicket haul of the season as the last 6 wickets fell for only 24 runs, with Matthew coming out the winner thanks to taking the last 2 wickets to fall in consecutive balls as he closed on 5 for 13 in 5 overs, leaving Richard with 4 for 37 from his long spell. Both were aided by 2 good catches from Phil P, 1 from Andy H and 1 behind for Bob

In reply Ives quickly found themselves 4 for 2 but with middle order scores of Richard 24, Phil P 28, Denis 27 and Bob seeing the innings home with 38no, the winning hit was left to ‘Superstar’ Saqib who finished on 15no. and  a good 4 wicket win.

A very hot day; Surprisingly our Skipper was drowning his sorrows with a
beer before the game even started.
The beer worked and Adrian won the toss and elected to bat.
Great second wicket partnership of 126 between Bob (68) and Phil.P(59) got
the first 20 overs to a flying start.
The giddy heights of 250+ looked possible but Ives slowed down. Good knock
of 19 by J.Concur toward the end helped the
cause.
So a total of 185 for the loss of 6 wickets was set.

Chaseville started quickly and got the runs in less than 30 overs. Best by
far of the bowlers was Superstar who finished with
2-23 off 8 with 2 maidens. The rest of the bowlers pretty much got tonked
all over the field.
Matt bowled a few good overs but then saw the ball (and the replacement
other 2 balls) elevated towards Thames narrowly missing a few 747s on their
landing pattern.
3 grommets wandered across the field giving it the typical lip – Bob had to
be restrained – the youngsters so frightened that they ended up stealing a
boundary marker.  Classy!!

After an unpromising morning of rain and cloud, the forecast proved accurate and the game was on, with a surprisingly dry and hard track.

Skipper Dancer lost the toss (nothing new there) and Ivanhoe were batting in a 40 over encounter.

Suddenly with Evan and Parnell P departing for ducks Ivanhoe were 5-2 after 3 overs. Unplayable opening bowlers? Not according to new man in, Parnell R, who hit the next few balls straight to the boundary destroying figures and confidence of the bowlers. With 67 scored for the 3^rd wicket, Parnell R was caught for 43 and Bamville breathed a sigh of relief. The 4^th wicket also brought up 67 runs with Raj negotiating some early difficulties to score 42, in an increasingly dominating innings. Again relief for Bamville, at 139 -4 with a high run rate chalked up. As Collins dried up in the 40s the pace of the innings slowed but progress was maintained with everyone contributing. Collins scored a lucky 5 to bring up his 50 and, to the surprise of some, scored a maximum, finishing on 67. Dancer raised the rate at the end with some well struck boundaries, reaching 22*.

218 all out with a few balls unused – enough?

The usual excellent Bamville tea followed and Ives rolled out ready to win. Bamville had other ideas and had obviously been watching the recent internationals. They set off at 8+ an over rivalling R Parnell’s rate. Rarely has Hausler been so expensive and treated with such contempt! He was not alone. The 1^st wicket was a long time – too long- coming. Dropped catches and missed half chances were the story, and eventually the result was dictated by the Bamville opener from Stoke on Trent. He liked to chat and hit boundaries even more, scoring well over 100—if caught earlier????

Nevertheless the wickets began, and tumbled regularly , helped by an amazing catch from Kenchington and a spectacular direct hit run out from Parnell R- pity the regulation catches went down! Entering the last 3 overs, ahead of the run rate, Bamville lost their 9^th wicket.. but, unlike a Thai massage,  it was not to be a happy ending, despite some excellent bowling at the death  by Parnell Matt 5-0-20-0 and Evans reliving the more supple times with 3.1-1-8-1.

So a 1 wicket defeat , but a great game, as always with Bamville – what a fantastic setting and hospitable club.

Man of the Match – Bamville opener– sorry guys.. he dictated the result and we should have won this one!