Midweek XI
Matches
Wed 05 Aug 2015
Five Ways Old Edwardians CC
Midweek XI
150/3
149/6
Selly Oak Hospital CC
Ways Win In Gloom

Ways Win In Gloom

Iain Wingfield6 Aug 2015 - 13:34
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Tight finish as game ends in pitch dark

Gloomy conditions met Bassett's Allsorts and Selly Oak Hospital in this end of season game. With impending dark, the '15 x 8 ball over' game got under way later than was recommended. Stand in skipper Mr Frith won the toss and elected to bat first. Stig Thebear and Smurf opened, with the sharp medium pace of Suresh and the left arm spin of O'Keefe to contend with. Oh, and a pitch that had an 'indifferent' bounce to say the least!
However, lack of/too much bounce was not what caused Smurf to get out 2nd ball. Missing a straight one and being bowled off stump was. The History Man came in next and played some nice shots before being stitched up like a kipper by Thebear, who called him through for a single after being dropped at short cover. Surely only 'Yes, no, sorry' Tovey has run out as many partners as Thebear! DP joined Thebear, and the pair started to score heavily from Selly Oak's back up bowlers in the light drizzle that had started to fall. DP eventually fell to a decent catch on the cover boundary for 31, giving Mr Frith a chance to continue his good midweek form. He capitalised on some appalling fielding from the visitors, as they gave him several boundaries by jumping over, kicking, and even face planting the ball over the rope! Thebear bought up his 50, and he & Mr Frith saw the hosts to a pretty decent total of 150.
As the Selly Oak innings got under way the skies grew darker and darker, until the inevitable drizzle resumed, which must have been the cause of Ways' bowlers spraying the ball down the leg side more often than they should. This played into the hands of big hitting Suresh, who proceeded to take young Taylor apart, before continuing his onslaught against both Mr Frith and 'Ginger Joe' Holmes. Mr Frith had enough about him, however, to work out that the man mountain couldn't pick his slower selection, and eventually got him to sky one to a calm and collected 'Ginger Joe' at deep point. Oak were still well in the running to win the game as the gloom descended further, giving most of the fielding side no chance of seeing the ball, even when it was hit within feet of them. With a change of pace however, bringing JT and Beast Sr on, Oak lost a couple more wickets at the wrong time, and with it getting ever darker, they fell agonisingly short of the total. Needing a six from the final ball, a hefty swing to the square leg boundary fell a couple of yards short, as fielder DP stood by, arms outstretched, completely oblivious to the ball heading his way.
A great game in VERY testing conditions. Well played both teams!

Match details

Match date

Wed 05 Aug 2015

Kickoff

18:00

Meet time

17:45

Location

Instructions

Watch the sky......
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Shirt Sponsor - Senior Section - Rock Compliance Ltd
Kit Supplier - Cicada Sports