Stunning sums it all up really! - the weather, the result, and Sam’s 146 not out.
In a season that has seen some very good results, in particular the double over Salthill, we surpassed ourselves in the heat of Hill Barn on Sunday. Under new skipper Graham, we were put in the field and endured a long hot afternoon that resulted in the home team declaring two overs early on a challenging score of 214-4. With the exception of Simon Locke’s tight spell of 1-20 off 7 overs, the bowlers laboured somewhat in the heat, and, combined with a fair share of edges not finding the hands, it was a frustrating time. Jamie stuck to the task, as did Jordan; Laurie got some turn and caused problems, but Monty finally gave in to his ankle injury and was duly carted for 27 of 12 deliveries.
Three catches were taken; one by Tony, despite all the best efforts of Al to bump into him. Simon took our only slip catch this season and Dan held a running catch to close the innings.
The target looked within reach, but a loss of early wickets left us at 34-3 and staring down the barrel. We felt that if Sam was still there at the end and others could contribute then we could still make inroads into their total. What followed was a master class in application and pure commonsense. Sam and Al Evans (24) put on 117 for the fourth wicket. With the opposing skipper setting fields you could only dream about, the pair set about building a match winning partnership, regularly finding the boundary and rotating the strike with ease.
To the oppositions credit they used a number of bowlers, when they may have been better advised at 3 down to tighten up. But there error was our gain and with just 7 balls remaining it was apt that Sam should strike the winning boundary to cap a great day for AWCC.
The after match beer at the Cricketers was also an evening to savour, not only due to our win, but also because it gave us opportunity to share some good banter with Pathfinders, who were an excellent bunch. We are fully expecting to play them again next season.
In a season that has seen some very good results, in particular the double over Salthill, we surpassed ourselves in the heat of Hill Barn on Sunday. Under new skipper Graham, we were put in the field and endured a long hot afternoon that resulted in the home team declaring two overs early on a challenging score of 214-
Three catches were taken; one by Tony, despite all the best efforts of Al to bump into him. Simon took our only slip catch this season and Dan held a running catch to close the innings.
The target looked within reach, but a loss of early wickets left us at 34-
To the oppositions credit they used a number of bowlers, when they may have been better advised at 3 down to tighten up. But there error was our gain and with just 7 balls remaining it was apt that Sam should strike the winning boundary to cap a great day for AWCC.
The after match beer at the Cricketers was also an evening to savour, not only due to our win, but also because it gave us opportunity to share some good banter with Pathfinders, who were an excellent bunch. We are fully expecting to play them again next season.
(Sorry - no pictures for this match)
Pathfinders 27 july 2008
