Match Report - ANZA1 v SRC1

ANZA1 v SRC1 at Turf City B, Sunday 31 August 08

Scorecard

Morning all, apologies for the lateness of this report, but I've been so busy lounging around being unemployed and having fun that I haven't been able to find the time...

On a damp Sunday morn Turf City was in a mildly squidgy and greasy mood, with each end of the wicket happy to upend all those who dared to jog across the hallowed turf. Naturally, a wet outfield meant that the start of play was delayed until 10am, but there was, at this time, no overs lost. Luckily, for it was baking hot at the time, Kevin won the toss and without hesitation elected to bat. With the outfield so slow, quick runs were always going to be hard to come by - and we had made a steady start, despite losing Kennie early in the piece. Kev came in at three and partnered Ben well, but they were soon interrupted by rain at 10.40 for 20 minutes or so, causing the game to be reduced to 47 overs a side! . On their return, Burgess and Robertson proceeded to put on 42 from eight overs thanks to much good running between the wickets. Kev (17) then lost his castle to an inswinging delivery with the score on 52/2 after 12.1 overs.

Ben (then on 20) and new partner Renato batted reassuringly for 13 overs, sharing a stand of 31 against some tight bowling, although wides were relatively frequent, with the fielding side eventually giving away 36 extras in total. But back to the story, in the 26th over Ben played one on to his stumps for a hard earned 35 from 77 balls. With the score 83/3 and Renato still plugging away at the other end, Gavin came to the crease. Buoyed by international rugby success, albeit not personally, he and Renato needed a big stand to carry us over the line with a respectable score. Alas, Renato was lbw four overs later and had to exit the arena after a useful 23. Jonno, batting at six, looked to once more grant us a much needed boost from his strong hitting. He and Gav scored 32 off the next nine overs, Jonno striking just the fourth four of the innings before being unluckily run out for 17 (unluckily because he was clearly in his ground, damn thats unlucky - who would have thought anyone could get a dodgy decision in Singapore... How's Hong Kong?) Mystifyingly, I myself, the great Clyde, ruler of all, composer of match reports, was bumped up to number seven to try and stick around with Gavin. Four overs later however, disaster! With the score on 146 after 42.6, I was well short of my ground attempting a dodgy single - departing for a very English 18 ball duck. Ashok was in at eight, and then soon out again - bowled for four; with Gav still holding steady on 21. At number nine was Matt, with whom Gavin shared a brief nine run partnership until the Springbok himself was caught trying to increase the run rate. With seven balls left, Rob and Matt managed to squeeze out a further four runs, leaving us with a defendable 167-8 off 47.

Again some lovely Subway sanis were provided for lunch, although the absence of pecan pie was a rather potent disappointment. After some energetic fielding practice, Matt and Jonno opened the bowling impressively and should have had early wickets but for the missing of a catch or two. SRC moved swiftly onto 30 from seven overs, but Renato's introduction saw him snare the number two batsman with his second delivery - held by Gavin in the deep for 13. The number three bat joined the remaining opener by playing with an ugly, agressive and effective manner. Both moved onto 30 in what seemed like no time at all, and our heads started to drop as they progressed to 75 without much fuss. Then, however, the worm began to turn. The opener hit Renato's final delivery of the 14th over straight to Jonno, and nine deliveries later the new batsman (and captain) skied one to Venkat who held on to a difficult high catch. Ben was brought on to replace Matt the next over, but it was Renato who continued to steal the show - this time grabbing hi s fourth wicket in his next over - the hard hitting number three skying it to Kevin, who took a good running catch (i think). With the score now 91/4 we were back in with a chance, but with an achievable target of 167, SRC still looked set for the win. Renato was replaced after seven overs by Kev, who bowled well in tandem with Ben. The number six batsman was then run out after hitting it straight to Gavin and making what can only be described as a monumental misjudgment akin to the Iraq war, Nostradamus or last year's Aussie general election. Just three deliveries later their number five slashed one to Matt at point, and suddenly we were right on top. Another run out from Gavin two overs later did for the number eight and then two Burgess wickets in the 27th all but secured the win as SRC self-destructed. After one expansive shot by the number eleven, I was granted a nice leaving gift in the form of an easy run out which I was only to happy to accept.

A superb fightback from ANZA with the ball left SRC all out for 132 after just 27.6 overs, c! ompleting a highly satisfactory win at just after 4pm.

Final bowling figures were:
Matt Murphy: 8-1-44-0
Jonno Seifman: 3-0-15-0
Renato Rainone: 7-2-32-4
Ben Burgess: 6-1-23-2
Kevin Robertson: 4-0-16-1

Farewell all, although I will be sure to make a reappearance at some point.
Adam Seabright