The Strollers started 2025 with another triumph in the
VUWCC fundraising quiz at Waitoa bar. A tactical sacrifice by Jono Addis and Piers
Ovenden saw most of the winning prize (a couple of jugs of the sponsor's
product) consumed by the Vintage Lions.
Nobbling may have been part of the masterplan but it was
some disciplined bowling, smart catching, and a forest green deck, that
resulted in the Strollers running through the Vintage Lions for the first time
in the history of this fixture.
Phil Harris and Jake Pearson set the tone with the new
ball, conceding only five runs off the first four overs. The ball then started
to fly about. Pearson did well to reverse-cup a stinger at mid-off, George
Love flung himself to his right to claim a screamer, and then back-peddalled
and rolled to take a second. Ovenden pouched a couple of mis-hits, prowling at
short midwicket.
Love and James Timperley bowled with tantalising guile. Julian
Read, coming off the short run up like a late career Hadlee, bowled with laser-like
precision - Timperley taking a smart catch at slip off his bowling - and Doran Wyatt
finished the innings with the most economical of braces.
The Strollers batting was something of a roller coaster.
Each time they ratched themselves on top of the run rate, to glimpse the sunny
horizon, they were suddenly plunged, with stomach churning horror, into a new
trough.
Luke Woods (7-2-9-2) bowled a heavy ball from the croquet
end but was negotiated reasonably successfully through a combination of solid
defence and an almost complete abdication of ambition. Unfortunately, the
middle of the innings became a torment as Matt Sadd spun his way through the
flower of the Exiles' batting to finish with figures of 5-0-13-4.
With the score at 70-5, and the resolute Harris at the
crease, our chances were still good, and the supporters on the boundary were in
no mood to disperse. A good knock of commonsense from Pearson (block or biff)
brought the Strollers tantalisingly close. Sad(d)ly it wasn't to be.
Radiant sunshine, some more of the sponsor's product, and
some friendly speeches, took away the disappointment of defeat. Many thanks to
the Lions for their hospitality - not least the lunch they laid on. It
continues to be a fixture that is played in the best possible spirit.
Capt: Jono Addis.Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Match report: Piers Ovenden.
