Jagex struck to record their second win of the season against Peter, Elseworthy and Moore, a firm of accountants. The augurs weren't good, as the weather was fairly variable. A late call from the groundsman led to the game going ahead, with dark clouds and a sense of foreboding. Nigri was behind the stumps, and being an American, we had to spend some time explaining the different forms of "wicketing" that a wicketkeeper can be involved in.
PEM were struggling to get their whole team to the ground so had to bat first. Amoraal and Love opened, and both secured a wicket in their first over. Amoraal started loosely and then saw one dispatched wide before the batsman gently popped a cover drive on the up to Piers Morgan to give him an early wicket. Not to be outdone, Love opened with a vicious spell, conceding 2 runs and bowling number 3 batsman with a fast offcutter that stayed low and splayed the stumps. The other opener, Davda, looked in fine fettle for PEM and showed some genuine cricket shots to race away with a decent score.
The number 4 was handy too, a work experience import for the week, although he was circumspect and careful to see off the good bowling. Love continued in miserly fashion through a four over spell, conceding only 12 runs and remaining with one wicket. Amoraal managed a maiden in his second over and only conceded a few off his third, leaving PEM well behind an average run rate. Gibbins replaced Amoraal and bowled tempting medium pace stuff which helped get the batsmen swinging a bit and livened the game up. The dark clouds continued to descend and Nigri did his best to cheer everyone up with various bits of inane banter from behind the stumps.
Piers Morgan came in and bowled a brilliant spell to help strangle the scoring rate and race through balls. He saw one caught at midwicket and one magical double wicket, bowling the guy off his bat, with Nigri holding the catch as well for good measure. Accordingly his 3 over spell went for 8, and his 3rd over was a 2 wicket maiden, a rare sight indeed. Cooper supported him for a spell and McClarty bowled one special over which was akin to Neil Tween's from earlier in the season, conceding 13 runs and not really threatening the stumps. Cooper was also a little wayward in this game, something we're not at all used to given his consistently excellent bowling throughout the season.
Cooper also induced the funniest moment of the day, when a ball got slightly big on the batsman and he pitched a catch really high to short cover. Willem had it covered all the way, right up until he dropped it, fell over and knocked his sunglasses from his head. He hit the ground so hard that the earth moved, as one might say after an energetic night in the bedroom.
There was a cheeky little run out near the end, before Juzzy came on to close down the last two overs, and bowled impeccably, going for only 9 in 2 when PEM were looking to push on. PEM finished at 111-5. It felt a below par score, but the grass was green and the ball was appreciably swinging, especially for Love, Amoraal and P Morgan. We had precious few misfields this week - which is a victory in and of itself.
Sophie! (imagine saying this as one would in the Renault Clio - Papa - Nicole adverts) was on hand to offer her photographic skills and encouragement along with Jamy's beau, Laura. The attendance of spectators at our games has coincided with our sudden ability to actually win. Pure happenstance, of course.
McClarty declined the opportunity to open in favour of Fardell, so Jagex opened with the chalk and cheese of Colledge (David Gower) and Fardell (Tino Best), more to entertain the assembled spectators than to give Jagex a chance of chasing the low total. Each week Richard and I have taken it in turns to be the guy who, you know, actually scores runs, and this week it was Richard's turn....
The opening bowlers for PEM made excellent use of the green conditions, and both extracted some fairly appreciable away swing. Colledge coped with it well, utilising deliberate late cuts, a square cut and a lovely Pierersen-esk flick through midwicket, as well as some footwork. Fardell doesn't cope so well with good bowling in swing conditions (I prefer a dry pitch and a pie machine at the other end, to be honest), and looked scratchier than a blunt clawed cat nestled on a brand new sofa. I did manage to preserve my wicket for ages though, which has got to be worth something.
Colledge quickly retired on 28, bringing in the South African Stallion, Jeroen - can bat, can't field, Van Daal. He started as he always does, showing absolutely no respect to any of the bowling he faced, and walloping anything and everything, hitting 3 consecutive 4's in his first 4 balls, and racing away quickly to 18. Fardell continued in his quest to make the other batsman look good, playing out lots and lots of dots, mainly played and misses. Jeroen then did something wonderful, which the spectators would only have appreciated with the aid of a stump mike. A ball was bowled, it bounced on a good length and sat up a little. A full second before hitting the ball, Jeroen exclaimed "Yeah!" in his best Usher voice, and absolutely mullered it for 6 over cow corner. The ball was lost. I'm still shocked. The bowler's face was a picture.
The Van Daal retirement brought Jamy Nigri in. Having watched Jeroen and with customary Yankee style, he missed a couple before smiting one for 6 as well. Fardell scratched around still playing in his magical bubble before chipping a slower ball to mid on to depart, somehow having scored 17 despite not actually playing any scoring shots. Edwards strolled and replaced Fardell ably, taking some time to get going before rolling up his sleeves and hitting a couple of nice fours. Nigri continued to confound all known principles of cricket, with 4's and 6's. The remarkable thing about him is partially that he tends to actually hammer the better balls over midwicket, when he has absolutely no right to whatsoever.
McClarty strolled out to score the winning runs on Jamy's retirement. He played and missed a few. He then, and I was umpiring, took a guard on middle then shuffled across to outside off and missed. The ball thudded into his pads about 3 inches from the ground and it was going on to splay all three stumps. The bowler appealed almost apologetically, and I gave him out. True to form, he took it well....
Edwards got the final runs with a runner for company, and a comfortable victory was earned in the 14th over. PEM were hampered by only having 9 players, although a good bowling performance gave Jagex the platform to allow their batsmen to take their time.
In the scorebook it records Jeroen Van Daal as the man of the match. Who am I to argue with that. He can't bowl, he can't field for toffee, but boy can he bat
No comments:
Post a Comment