Match Report - ANZA1 v SRC1

ANZA1 v SRC1 at Fernvale, Sunday 14 September 08

Scorecard

ANZA 3-152 def. SRC 151 for 9 invaluable points.

This match brought a welcome change of venue for the soldiers from ANZA as they sought to repeat victory against the orphaned SRC. At its best, Fernvale is best described as a coastal swamp less the migratory birds, however the sea breeze remained true all day and provided welcome relief from the heat.

ANZA lost the toss and was promptly given the ball in what could described as an interesting decision by the opposition captain. Jye and the No Good Sheep Shagger aka The Midget aka Hebrew Slave aka Tim May bowled good areas early on and were rewarded with 3 wickets between them in a tight opening spell. Notable was Renato's high catch from Tim's bowling, though would have been much better had Renato attempted his trademark pirouette. First change bowlers "Ronaldo" Rainone and Matt "The Octopus" Murphy used contrasting approaches. The Octopus attempted a combination of great and no so great deliveries and was rewarded with a number of close chances and a number of boundary's in his solitary over. Ronaldo attempted guile and proceeded to claim the opposition captain's off peg. Venkat "Tiger" Mandadi replaced the Octopus and tried a similar approach with much better results through 6 overs. The Tiger claimed arguably the most important wicket of the day through a sharp catch to Captain Kev at short cover. It is hard to say what is more memorable, the wicket or the somewhat unorthodox celebration that saw the Tiger run full circle around Kev before embracing the dizzy captain in triumph.

The middle period saw the introduction of spin twins Dhruv and "Barge Arse Burgess". A period of doldrums ensued as the pair claimed 1 wicket between them in a combined 16 overs. At this point Kennie decided to imitate a hairy backed shiela by whining about a sore back and being unable to continue keeping. It was somewhat baffling to then see him diving and running around the outfield 2 overs later after subbing with Kev. The return of the Hebrew Slave from hard labour in the outfield provided quick succour, with a wicket in his 1st and 2nd deliveries. The ensuing leg side wide was blamed on "Reverse Swing" and as irony would have it, the 3rd legitimate ball of the over was also a wicket, a comprehensive close to the innings and a damning indictment on the 10 mostly barren overs from "Barge Arse".

Pick of the fielders was Spainy and Kev.

And now to the best part of the day...Lunch (warning: this is no joke). SRC provided the best lunch of the season. Prata, rice, deep fried sambos and 2 types of curry. The scribe was in heaven, cramming down at least 10 prata's before hastily pulling on a borrowed pair of "left handed" pads.

Kennie and Bennie opened the batting for ANZA and it wasnt long before before the fireworks erupted (not from the Prata). After a number of false starts, Kennie finally nailed a gigantic straight maximum off the opening bowler in the 3rd over and continued in this agressive vein on his way to a rapidfire 30 before again sucumbing to "Shiela Syndrome", blaming fatigue for his wicket.

Captain Kev came to the crease and immediately played with confidence and helped the scoring along with some well timed boundaries. Kev was the dominant partner in a stand of 65 with Bennie, who found a niche in rotating the strike and hitting the odd six. Kev fell tragically for 35 to a "Tiger Ball" after doing all the hard work. At this point ANZA was home and hosed with 30 odd runs to get which was mopped up by Ronaldo (14) and Dhruv who hit a towering 6 off his first delivery! Bennie, the not out batsman, played for his average and finished with a lack lustre 53 not.

A good win for ANZA.

Best Performers
Bowling
    Tim May 4-21
    Jye Hearps 2-26
    Venkat 2-24

Batting
    Burgess 53* (47 tragic runs short of a hook)
    Kev 35
    Ken 30

(written by Ben Burgess)