A replacement fixture arranged late in the preceding week against potentially much stronger opposition was made into an excellent traditional game of timed cricket by the opposition captain and his very good natured team. A weak Ivanhoe rose to the occasion, appreciating positive but friendly opposition.
Pinner batted first and set off as in a 20:20 game. Whilst Christie held his nerve and figures, whenever Prasad slipped form his line and length he was severely punished. Starting with only 9 fielders did not help protect the bowlers and despondency increased amongst the Ives ranks until the first drinks break brought a change of fortune and 78 off 15 overs soon became 78-3. Ives fielding was outstanding with Prasad hitting the stumps from a very difficult angle to run one of the leading batsmen out; Kenchington and StePHen (editor) Parnell ran miles and saved so many runs. One major misfortune occurred when a ball was creamed at Matt Parnell achieving a bullseye, or in this case a ballseye, and such was the blow that this was the end of the game for him. We sympathise and wish him well. (H and S note- fielders may in future choose to wear a box when fielding).
With Christie’s marathon 12 over spell finished (and the ball had to be prised from him) the other bowlers joined the party and Abrahamson, Dancer and R Parnell all had an impact on the scoring rate. Of course one more bowler deserves mention with (RSPCA John) Loveday taking his second wicket for Ives, courtesy of a slow motion stumping. This success had the effect of bringing his average down to 100.
Pinner rallied with a slower scoring rate but ensured that their innings did not finish early. Declaration took place after c45 overs, with 231 on the board.
Special fielding mentions are needed for C Parnell, rushing to the game straight from work and Benjamin Abrahamson making his Ives debut .. at 10 years old.. if only all of us were such keen fielders!
Tea, courtesy of Earle and family.
Ives reply began slowly with Pinner finding much more sideways movement than Ives. Still Dancer and Abrahamson blunted the initial surge before Abrahamson edged a lifter to slip. Dancer and R Parnell then settled in and the scoring rate increased significantly. Some excellent drives were seen by both batters. With 20 overs to go Ives were 98-1. Having put on 74, though, R Parnell (36), played around a straight one and the middle order fell away. Dancer remained obdurate and looked as though he would carry his bat, but Pinner opened the game up in search of wickets and Collins (21*) and Dancer put on 64 rapidly, until the opening bowlers returned and the scoring rate declined. With this tight bowling Dancer’s century hopes dimmed and with 4 balls to go Dancer was bowled …. probably by tiredness! A fine 89 to record the highest score of the season to date. Prasad swathe last 3 balls off successfully and Ives finished at 193-6, but with only 3 wickets in hand.
A draw but an excellent game.
MoM: Adrian Dancer (despite the jug avoidance)
R Collins