With a five o’clock kick-off scheduled for
England’s Euro 24 round of 16 fixture against Slovakia, it was decided that the
match against Demijohns would be a 35-over innings match in the hope that both
teams would be able to catch the tail end of the match in the pavilion
post-game.
Captain Blair Travis won the toss and elected
to bowl first, with the outfield at Pinkneys Green known to be rapid in late
afternoon summer sun.
Infrequent opening bowler
Mike Pittams was entrusted with the fresh cherry, keeping the wicketkeeper busy
with a couple in swinging leg-side wides to start, before adjusting his line to
bowl the Demijohns opener for a first over duck.
To keep the overrate swift, Captain Travis
bowled himself from the other end, rolling through some quick overs of
efficient off-spin and gaining himself an early wicket, bowling the No 3.
With wicketkeeper Gus Wills
unable to cleanly gather run-out attempts from Steve Rogers and Pittams, seam
bowlers Peter Wood, Glen Oliver, Rob Wall and Ben Mangham took the ball through
to the 20-over drinks break, with one wicket for Oliver and two for Wood.
Oliver’s victim was Chris Kulasingan, who struck
a fine 30 before inadvertently hitting the ball onto the stumps in attempting to stop it
rolling back. Thus was the Demijohns’ momentum halted any time it threatened.
Mangham and Alastair Macaulay
started things positively post drinks, with wicket maidens apiece, before
Demijohns put on an impressive 75 for their eighth wicket, including a lost ball
for six.
A fine stand was finally broken when Wood's strong
arm and a clumsy bit of wicketkeeping by Wills resulted in both a run-out and
the stumps being demolished as the balletic Gus lost balance attempting to
delicately whip off the bails.
Oliver came back to replace Hugh Martindale –
who had been struck fiercely in the knee fielding off his own bowling – and
picked up another victim in the final over, with Demijohns finishing their 35 overs
at a competitive 229-9.
After a magnificent and surprise tea courtesy
of Mr Waitrose and Simon Brodbeck – his only positive contribution to the game –
Wall and Steve Rogers had a brief pre-innings
chat about starting positively.
They opened aggressively, staying ahead of the required
run rate while being dropped once and twice respectively, before the
partnership was broken for 29 as bat missed ball and Rogers was bowled for 11.
Wood came in at first drop and
continued the fast tempo with Wall, putting on 53 for the second
wicket before Wall was caught for 41 and Wood was dismissed lbw shortly after for
28 after surviving a big shout the ball before.
Travis and Oliver picked up
where the previous pair had left off, building into a 67-run stand for the fourth
wicket. With 66 runs required for victory with six wickets in hand, the
Strollers looked set to comfortably chase down the target. But a quick double
blow saw Oliver and Travis both bowled for 35 and 36 respectively. That left
things looking a bit less straightforward with no established batsman at the
crease.
Pittams took it upon
himself to anchor the remainder of the chase, top scoring with
an unbeaten 44 with support from Martindale (4), Wills (8 and fortunate
to avoid a fourth duck in five innings after being dropped on 0), and Mangham
(10 not out).
Thus the lower order reached the total with three
overs and three wickets remaining, allowing both teams to get into the
pavilion to watch England come within a minute of yet another
embarrassing tournament exit at the hands of a minnow.
Capt: Blair Travis. Wkt and match report: Gus Wills.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
