Report from Tom Hartgill
Arrival at Oakley Park
We arrived at Oakley Park at midday (well, some a bit later…) to be greeted by glorious sunshine and the ground looking magnificent as always. Following a late drop-out, there was a call-up from the 3s for me—a reward for a scratchy 20 and a fumbled catch last week, but in truth, probably more off the back of a half-decent match report (and so here I am).
Winning the Toss
Weather and pitch assessed, it was all pointing towards a bat-first sort of day, and Captain Ian duly delivered by winning the toss. Donnington took to the field a man and bowler short (they had a player even worse at timekeeping than us), and it showed in the early overs. Kris and Mozza got us off to a very healthy start, Kris in particular scoring freely with boundaries aplenty. A couple of wickets fell, but Kris continued to reach a really good 50 before being run out.
Middle Order Perform
Our powerful middle order then took over with Ian, George, and Tiley all batting well for 30s. Ian seemed a bit unfortunate to be bowled by a delivery that somehow passed over his head before dipping to hit the stumps. The surprise on Ian’s face was only matched by that of Kalum at square leg when he realized everyone was looking at him. Anyway, the dismissal stood and Ian took it with great grace; it wasn’t mentioned at all, not once, for the rest of the day. Unfortunately for Kalum, the fall of wickets meant he had to come back in from umpiring to pad up. He possibly felt the need for the pads for more than just his batting. As I say, it wasn’t mentioned again.
Setting a Competitive Total
A score of 200 looked like the par on a pitch that was getting increasingly hard to score on when the ball was in the right place. A slightly limp finish meant we fell just short of that but still posted a competitive total of 195. Surely plenty if we bowled and fielded well.
Donnington’s Innings
Donnington began their innings with a few boundaries from one of the openers, but the batsman at the other end came and went quite quickly, and they were soon 47/5. Zak bowled his 8 overs straight through and got better the longer the spell went on. George bowled a 5-over spell but unfortunately, only 3 overs were legitimate deliveries (including a couple of wickets), and Sharan took over. This meant we were treated to an unusual cricketing spectacle of left arm round from one end and right arm round from the other. Sharan bowled his usual tight spell, and Kalum took over from Zak to do much of the same.
Middle Overs Tightening
The middle overs saw Oaks tighten their grip, reducing the visitors to 102/8 (maybe 9 as a batter retired hurt). However, it also seemed they’d reversed their batting order as numbers 9 and 11 played the most sensible partnership of the innings. They grew in hope, and we started to get twitchy. A few bowling changes later, it was time for George and Tiley to try and secure victory. George took a wicket; maybe this was victory, but no—the injured batter was coming back in, with only one of his biceps attached. Surely we’d be okay now? Would we get away with bowling 34 wides? Would the 1st team bowl more wides than us? (Spoiler alert – yes in all cases).
The Final Over Drama
At the other end, a bromance was developing between Tiley and the visiting umpire. It seemed the umpire was keen on making a game of it with a series of tight wides and no balls being called. Luckily, Tiley is a calm and collected character who took this in his stride—a stride that was slightly over the popping crease (allegedly). He even graciously accepted the refusal of an LBW appeal—apparently it was not out as it may have been outside off stump and missing leg—credit to Tiley for moving the ball that much, I guess.
Securing Victory
Into the last over, and the one-armed man hit the first ball for 4. At that point, it looked in the balance, but Tiley bowled a great final few deliveries to secure victory by 2 runs. The irony of the final ball being slightly wide and not called was a truly beautiful way to end.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a decent performance, a closer game than it should’ve been (credit to their tail for that) against a decent bunch of blokes, and most importantly, 22 points in the bag. Onwards and upwards!
MOTD: Tuckers for his 50
