Scorecard

Greenies 1 made a winning start to the season at JPO yesterday in a grueling, see-sawing, emotional victory that came down to the last ball.

With 9 out of 11 players suffering a bad "flu" from the prior night's wedding, the toss was one that I was happy to lose. It was difficult to tell whether the batsman or bowlers were suffering more & a decision from me either way would have made me an early COTD favorite. Roach sent us in giving everyone apart from the engine room some time to gather.

The pitch was damp & things were looking a little dire when Steve was caught behind in the first over off a beauty from Marlon. Craig & Ian bravely negotiated the first 10 overs which were very treacherous. Craig copped one on the helmet off a good length from Marlon & Kervin bowled some unplayables to Ian. After 8 overs we were only 6 runs but more importantly just 1 wicket. The pitch continued to play slow, making scoring difficult. They batted through to the 28th over, a partnership of 79. Ian was bowled for 29 & Craig caught for 53 having adding 31 with Josh. He batted for 37 overs & set us up well in tough conditions. To me the highlight of Craig's innings was his leaves to Marlon in the first 10 overs, only playing deliveries that he had to. The work that he has put in over the past couple of months in the nets & against the bowling machine clearly paying off. Josh was caught for 24 trying to push the run rate. Hoggy & I added 33 in a quick partnership of 4 overs. Both got out trying to slog Marlon into North Sound. Ledge, Sean C, Nick & Faisal continued the aggression & got us to 191 when 150 was looking tough at one stage. Just goes to show how crucial wickets in hand are. From when Craig was 3rd man out, we scored 81 in the final 12.2 overs.

The 2nd innings was a gripping affair with control of the match swinging several times. We got first control with the prize wicket of Sealy in the first over when I managed to hold onto a slash through the covers. Then immediately following that, we were called for 4 no balls. When questioned, the umpire said that our gully was not a catcher because he was not 15 yards from the bat, which was ridiculous. Standing that close in the gullys to Josh would simply be dangerous. After re-adjusting the field, Josh then started bowling front foot no balls. In between that Cato was dropped & then caught behind but not given out by the umps. After 10 overs  they raced to 46, which included 24 extras! The introduction of Faisal & Nick in the 11th & 12 overs turned the game back to us with 2 wickets & some very tight bowling for the next 10 overs. The problem though was that Omar & Roachy were in & gradually starting to tick the scoreboard over. We had drinks at the 30 over mark & they needed 89 runs from 20 overs, Omar & Roachy still in while Josh & Nick were bowled out. We knew that scoring was tough & if we could chip one of them, they wouldn't have much batting to follow. Carey did just that, getting Omar with a sharp low down chance to Nevels in the covers & clean bowling the next man in. Faisal kept tight from the other end. Roach was doing well though & 2 wides down leg that went to the boundary from Carey tipped it back to them. The key moment came when Roachy threw his wicket away slapping Faisal straight to Josh at mid wicket.

The Mankad. Never seen it before, probably never will again. Don't know what the actual rule says, not sure if anyone does. Smith & Kirvin were doing pretty well & reduced the target to 24 off 4 overs. Ledge was the bowler & Steve noticed that Kirvin was backing up several meters & thereby gaining an unfair advantage. Steve warned him in front of the umpire that he was backing up too far, which he promptly ignored & set off sprinting down the pitch again. Ledge stopped in his action took the bails off & the umpire gave him out. Kirvin walked off reluctantly. Ironically, he had tried to mankad one of our batsman earlier in the day. Kirvin's anger was mild though in comparison to his mother who unleashed the fury on the poor old umps post game, it was a fantastic spray.

Schools need 9 from the final over to be delivered by Hoggy. Smith looking good. A couple of 2's. 5 off 3. Hogg bowls, he charges, misses, stumped! 5 off 2. Dot. 4 off 1. Single, Greenies win by 3 runs!  Sensational effort to hang in there & make them earn every run (apart from the 45 extras!).  The bowlers were sensational.

MOM - Sellars 2-28 put the squeeze on in the middle overs. Also scored 13 of 9 & cruelly run out by Seany C.
COTD - Carey - turned up an hour early for the wedding, completely hammered in shorts & t-shirt. Phoned at 10am when we were all at the ground requiring a lift. Hogg had to drive back & get him. 31 from his 5 overs including 11 wides.
POTD - my catch off Sealy.
Special mention - Nevels for getting off work & being 12th man. Came on for Craig who was cramping & took a crucial catch.

The beers were cold, crisp & tasted great. Spirits were high. The 100 proof fine bottle helped eased the muscle pain. Life is good.