In a
game of swinging fortunes Greenies Too notched up their first win of the season
in dramatic fashion last Saturday at SRO. The only consistent form I have shown
over the past two years is my ability to lose the toss and that continued on
Saturday. Under sweltering heat and blue skies we were asked to field by the
opposition. The opening bowlers bowled with out any luck at all. Dicky Thomas
bowled exceptionally well, bowling his 7 overs straight in the heat of the
midday sun, proving that love can conquer all, including Dicky's penchant
for Friday night benders. Dicky was unlucky not to pick up a wicket in his spell
as the opening batsmen hit many a flukey shot in the air only for the ball to
land just out of reach of the fieldsmen.
Finally the opening partnership was broken shortly after the first drinks
break with the introduction of the spin twins, McGrath and Groves. A Grover arm
ball caused the first breakthrough in the 18th over with Wellys on 110. This was
followed by another wicket to Grover in the 20th and from there the flood gates
opened. The enthusiasm picked up amongst Greenies and a steady flow of wickets
were to follow. Dave McGrath bowled beautifully into the wind from the Crewe
Road end, pitching the ball up the batsman and not being afraid to give it
plenty of air. The batsmen refused to use their feet and paid the price, with
McGrath picking up three wickets of his own. Wickets continued to fall steadily
and Wellys were bowled out in the 31st over, having lost all ten of their
wickets in an amazing 13 overs for just 54 runs. Dave Rajaratnam, having
received a late call up to the team, stamped himself as the Greenies answer to
Lasith Malinga, with his slow slingers collecting him the enviable figures of
1.1 overs, 2 wickets for 4 runs. The lower order batsmen had no answer to
Dave's medium paced, slinging yorkers at the death. Texas also picked up a
direct hit run out at the bowlers end which contributed to Wellys demise and
secured him play of the day. An unprecedented 4 lbw decisions in favour of
Greenies helped our cause and made a nice change from the usual deaf ears that
our appeals fall upon. It was remarkable comeback from the situation at drinks
where it looked like we'd be chasing a score of 250 plus and great fighting
spirit was showed by the team. The Dave's were clearly the stars of the Greenies
fight back, although great contributions were made by all players by keeping the
fielding tight and keeping the tempo up vibe and
interesting.
After
the luncheon interval it was up to Greenies Too to chase down the target of 164
from 35 overs. We knew it would be no easy task, given our relatively poor
batting form to date. Nick Robinson, making his Greenies Too debut and Tex
opened the batting and the mood was confident in the Greenies change room,
expecting the openers to go most of the way to knocking off the
target. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, with both openers falling cheaply. Robbo
was the first to go, being caught at short fine leg playing a flick off his hip.
He claimed on his return to the pavilion that he didn't know that the fielder
was there - he was fined appropriately. Tex got out shortly afterwards for a
scratchy 8 which brought the Groves-Hepburn combination together. They batted
well and stabilised the innings before Grover was dismissed. Porter and Hepburn
batted solidly before the first of two silly run-outs occurred. It wouldn't be
Greenies Too without a couple of silly run outs, would it? The first was Tim
being caught at the same end as Alex. This brought me to the crease. I didn't
bother the scorers too much, scoring my solitary 1 run off a nick and struggling
to have any timing for my other 5 balls faced. Alex porter fell victim to a run
out shortly after my dismissal, this time shaking hands with Dave McGrath at the
non-strikers end shortly before the wicket keeper whipped off the bails. Dave
McGrath's wicket followed and before we knew it Greenies Too were 7 for 87 in
the 23rd over and looking good to once again snatch defeat from the jaws of
victory. But it wasn't to be. David Rjaratnam and Dicky Thomas put on a mature
71 run stand in ten overs to bring us to the cusp of victory. Their
partnership showed the top order how to bat with urgency, yet sensibly and
accumulate runs through excellent running between the wickets, mixed with some
delightful shots. Only 2 fours were scored in their partnership yet they scored
at better than 7 runs an over. The partnership was finally broken at the end of
the 34th over with the score 8 for 159 and Greenies needing 6 runs to win off
the last over. Shannon Richards was run out first ball he faced of the next
over. It was a sacrificial run out in order to get Dave Rajaratnam back on
strike to win the game for Greenies off the last 5 balls. The sizeable crowd
that had gathered to watch the exciting finale were on the edge of their seats.
Greenies got two byes early in the over, followed by another two to the plucky
Sri Lankan Rajaratnam, followed by a single, with the whippet Burges calling
Rajaratnam through for a single off the second last ball, to tie the scores at
165. All of Burgos spare time clearly has not been spent just satisfying the
needs of Cayman's lonely housewives, some too has been spent reading
and memorising the fine print of the 2007 playing conditions (which is an
exact copy of the 1976-2006 playing conditions). Burgo in his wisdom knew that a
draw with a wicket in hand would be enough to secure victory for Greenies, as we
had bowled out Wellys. And so the second monumental Greenies comeback of the day
was complete and Greenies Too were rewarded with their first win of the season,
when Burgo played well inside the line of the final ball of the innings and it
went safely through to the keeper, with Burgo firmly planted in his crease.
It
was a satisfying and immensely enjoyable day for all involved. Thanks to those
who came down to lend their support throughout the day. The fine session was
particularly enjoyable with Robbo doing the now famous 2 for 1 skulls against
Rajaratnam, Dicky, McGrath and Groves and doing his two quicker than Grover and
Dicky could do their one.
Attached are the scorecards and stats. Awards were as
follows:
MOTM:
Dave Rajaratnam (special mention to Dicky Thomas who came in a close
second)
POTD:
Tex for his direct hit run out
COTD:
Ivan "Iron Gloves" Burges for dropping every ball that came to him as wicket
keeper. (I felt extremely thankful for not even being nominated for COTD despite
having the worst bowling figures and the worst batting figures, and losing yet
another toss.)
| Saturday, May 05
2007 (12:55) at Smith Road Oval |
| Welly's XI won toss
and decided to bat |
| Welly's XI |
Village Greenies
Too |
| 164 all out (31.1
overs) |
164 for 9 (34.6
overs) |
|
|
| Batsman |
|
|
Runs |
Balls |
Mins |
4s |
6s |
S/r |
| G
Christian |
|
b D
McGrath |
65 |
83 |
66 |
4 |
1 |
78.31 |
| D Greaves |
c T
Hepburn |
b D Groves |
36 |
46 |
44 |
1 |
0 |
78.26 |
| K Clark*+ |
c D
McGrath |
b D Groves |
6 |
7 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
85.71 |
| C Best |
c D
Rajaratnam |
b D
McGrath |
0 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
| C Greaves |
lbw |
b D Groves |
13 |
9 |
30 |
0 |
1 |
144.44 |
| P George |
lbw |
b D
Rajaratnam |
9 |
18 |
25 |
0 |
0 |
50.00 |
| A Chase |
lbw |
b D
McGrath |
4 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
66.67 |
| A
Plowright |
not out |
|
3 |
6 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
50.00 |
| B Hart |
|
b S
O'Connor |
2 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
33.33 |
| E Bynoe |
run out (M
Walker) |
|
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
| D Parker |
lbw |
b D
Rajaratnam |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
| Extras |
2nb 22w
2lb 0b 0pen |
26 |
| Provisional Score For Innings |
164 |
| Penalties
awarded following Innings |
0 |
| Total |
164 |
all
out |
| Bowler |
O |
M |
R |
W |
Wd |
Nb |
S/r |
Econ |
| S O'Connor |
4.0 |
0 |
28 |
1 |
4 (4) |
2 (2) |
30.00 |
7.00 |
| R
Sawle-Thomas |
7.0 |
0 |
44 |
0 |
6 (9) |
0 (0) |
0.00 |
6.29 |
| T Hepburn |
5.0 |
0 |
27 |
0 |
6 (6) |
0 (0) |
0.00 |
5.40 |
| D McGrath |
7.0 |
1 |
25 |
3 |
1 (1) |
0 (0) |
14.33 |
3.57 |
| D Groves |
7.0 |
0 |
34 |
3 |
1 (1) |
0 (0) |
14.33 |
4.86 |
| D
Rajaratnam |
1.1 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
1 (1) |
0 (0) |
4.00 |
3.43 |
| Batsman |
Fall of
Wicket |
Partnership |
Batsmen |
Over |
| D Greaves |
110-1 |
110 |
D Greaves (36) G
Christian (56) |
18.2 |
| K Clark |
121-2 |
11 |
K Clark (6) G
Christian (5) |
20.1 |
| C Best |
123-3 |
2 |
C Best (0) G
Christian (2) |
21.2 |
| G
Christian |
128-4 |
5 |
G Christian (2) C
Greaves (2) |
23.4 |
| C Greaves |
145-5 |
17 |
C Greaves (11) P
George (5) |
26.1 |
| A Chase |
150-6 |
5 |
A Chase (4) P George
(1) |
27.4 |
| P George |
155-7 |
5 |
P George (3) A
Plowright (0) |
29.1 |
| B Hart |
161-8 |
6 |
B Hart (2) A
Plowright (1) |
30.2 |
| E Bynoe |
162-9 |
1 |
E Bynoe (0) A
Plowright (0) |
30.3 |
| D Parker |
164-10 |
2 |
D Parker (0) A
Plowright (2) |
31.1 |
| Batsman |
|
|
Runs |
Balls |
Mins |
4s |
6s |
S/r |
| N Robinson |
c B Hart |
b D Parker |
3 |
8 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
37.50 |
| M Walker |
c G
Christian |
b A
Plowright |
8 |
26 |
34 |
1 |
0 |
30.77 |
| D Groves |
c C
Greaves |
b A
Plowright |
13 |
14 |
30 |
1 |
0 |
92.86 |
| T Hepburn |
run out (P
George) |
|
18 |
27 |
42 |
2 |
0 |
66.67 |
| A Porter |
run out (C
Best) |
|
18 |
40 |
53 |
2 |
0 |
45.00 |
| S
O'Connor* |
c K Clark |
b D
Greaves |
1 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
16.67 |
| D McGrath |
|
b B Hart |
7 |
18 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
38.89 |
| R
Sawle-Thomas |
c C
Greaves |
b K Clark |
23 |
30 |
71 |
1 |
0 |
76.67 |
| D
Rajaratnam |
not out |
|
30 |
41 |
69 |
1 |
0 |
73.17 |
| S Richards |
run out (P
George) |
|
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
| I Burgess+ |
not out |
|
0 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
| Extras |
5nb 26w
4lb 8b 0pen |
43 |
| Provisional Score For Innings |
164 |
| Penalties
awarded following Innings |
0 |
| Total |
164 |
for
9 |
| Bowler |
O |
M |
R |
W |
Wd |
Nb |
S/r |
Econ |
| C Best |
7.0 |
1 |
18 |
0 |
2 (2) |
0 (0) |
0.00 |
2.57 |
| D Parker |
3.0 |
0 |
16 |
1 |
1 (1) |
0 (0) |
19.00 |
5.33 |
| A
Plowright |
7.0 |
0 |
19 |
2 |
1 (1) |
1 (2) |
22.00 |
2.71 |
| D Greaves |
5.0 |
1 |
26 |
1 |
4 (6) |
0 (0) |
34.00 |
5.20 |
| B Hart |
4.0 |
0 |
22 |
1 |
5 (9) |
0 (0) |
29.00 |
5.50 |
| K Clark |
3.0 |
0 |
18 |
1 |
1 (1) |
0 (0) |
19.00 |
6.00 |
| P George |
3.0 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
2 (2) |
0 (0) |
0.00 |
4.33 |
| C Greaves |
3.0 |
0 |
20 |
0 |
2 (4) |
1 (3) |
0.00 |
6.67 |
| Batsman |
Fall of
Wicket |
Partnership |
Batsmen |
Over |
| N Robinson |
4-1 |
4 |
N Robinson (3) M
Walker (0) |
1.3 |
| M Walker |
31-2 |
27 |
M Walker (8) D
Groves (13) |
7.4 |
| D Groves |
31-3 |
0 |
D Groves (0) T
Hepburn (0) |
7.5 |
| T Hepburn |
63-4 |
32 |
T Hepburn (18) A
Porter (13) |
17.2 |
| S O'Connor |
64-5 |
1 |
S O'Connor (1) A
Porter (0) |
18.3 |
| A Porter |
70-6 |
6 |
A Porter (5) D
McGrath (1) |
20.5 |
| D McGrath |
87-7 |
17 |
D McGrath (6) R
Sawle-Thomas (3) |
23.3 |
| R
Sawle-Thomas |
159-8 |
72 |
R Sawle-Thomas (20)
D Rajaratnam (27) |
33.6 |
| S Richards |
159-9 |
0 |
S Richards (0) D
Rajaratnam (0) |
34.1 |