Strollers won by six wickets
Chessington 132
(28 overs; Oliver 3-13, Macaulay 2-3, Pandor 2-11, Mangham 1-17, Copsey 1-21)
Strollers 136-4
(27.4 overs; Oliver 60no, Anand 34, Bennett 12no, Trebilcock 10)
The Strollers’ day against Chessington began before a ball had even been bowled, and in suitably chaotic fashion.
Captain Ben Mangham provided the first entertainment by attempting to crawl underneath a fence with his entire cricket bag strapped to his back. Unfortunately, neither his planning nor the flexibility of his spine were quite up to the challenge. The fence won comfortably.
Not to be outdone, a deer then galloped across the outfield shortly before the covers were removed. Quite what it thought of the pitch conditions remains unknown, but it wisely declined to stick around for the match.
With the wildlife cleared and covers off a “captains' agreement” – as Mangham claimed – saw the Strollers bowling first (though we all know this was merely a code for the toss being lost).
Isa Pandor and Will Bennett opened the bowling. Bennett intimidated the batsman with his 26-pace run up from one end, whilst Pandor bowled a very tidy line and length from the other.
It was Pandor who struck first, rearranging the opener’s middle stump before he had any real opportunity to settle in.
Pandor wasn’t finished there. Chessington’s No 3 attempted to loft a straight drive, only to discover that Glen Oliver had been strategically positioned at long-on. Catch taken. Job done. Two wickets down.
The first bowling change came after Pandor’s third over, prompting great celebrations from the Chessington bench who were shaking at the thought of what another Pandor over might do to the scoreboard. Paige Copsey replaced him and bowled an excellent spell of four overs for 21 runs. She had a near chance which dropped agonisingly short of skipper Mangham at point, but eventually got her reward with the final ball of her spell which naturally found its way towards Oliver at long-on for his second catch of the day.
Bennett, meanwhile, remained wicketless despite creating chances, including one thick edge that flew between the wicketkeeper and first slip, neither of whom managed to get a hand on it, and one late cut which flew ever so slight high and wide of gully.
Addy Anand made an appearance bowling spin from one end for two overs but was fended off well by the Chessington batsman.
Chessington’s danger man had put together an impressive 55 before finally meeting his match, picking out the one Strollers fielder most don’t dare to challenge, caught at cover by Brad Trebilcock from Oliver’s bowling.
Their No 5 then decided subtlety was overrated, smashing one of Glen’s deliveries straight back over his head and into the sightscreen. The resulting crater was so substantial it may have triggered traumatic flashbacks in any dinosaurs still roaming the local area.
Unfortunately for the batsman, a couple of balls later, he went for another ambitious shot and nicked one through to keeper Jake Helsby.
Oliver was not finished there, picking up another wicket when a delivery ripped through the batter’s defence and absolutely pummelled the stumps for his third wicket from his five overs.
Mangham at the other end began his spell excellently, with Chessington’s batters struggling to put bat on ball from his first few deliveries. It wasn’t long before he found himself in the action. Only seconds after a quick field adjustment which saw Oliver move slightly deeper at long-on, another lofted drive headed his direction and was confidently pouched.
At this stage, Oliver had three wickets and three catches, and was rapidly accumulating enough material to tell increasingly fictional sounding stories to his partner Steph later that evening.
Chessington began to feel the pressure, which eventually resulted in one of the more optimistic singles of the season. The batter guided the ball directly to square leg, called for a run and was almost immediately punished. Copsey fired the ball into keeper Helsby, who removed the bails with plenty of time to spare. The batter was so far short that nobody felt an appeal was really necessary. He simply knew.
Alastair Macaulay cleaned up what remained of the Chessington tail, picking up two wickets from just two overs. The first was brilliantly caught by Anand diving to his side, whilst the second split the batter’s defence and clean bowled him to complete the Strollers’ tenth wicket.
Chessington started brightly with the ball, opening with a maiden from one end courtesy of some medium-paced outswingers. From the other end came off-spin, turning enough to make several Strollers briefly question whether the pitch had been replaced at innings change.
Pete Robertson and Pandor opened the batting. Robertson started his innings confidently with a firm drive over long-on for four, while Pandor was caught for just two shortly after. Robertson then attempted what can only be described as his best Shohei Ohtani impression, producing a full baseball swing straight back down the wicket and was caught one-handed by the Chessington spinner. Baseball: 0. Cricket: 1.
Trebilcock arrived at the crease and expertly guided a thick edge between the two slips and gully for four runs. Just as he started to look to get into his groove, a loose swing saw him caught at long-on for 10 runs.
Oliver was next to the crease – but presumably aware that he still had to get home and begin telling everyone about his three wickets and three catches, he decided the chase needed to be completed quickly. Twenty-one runs came from his first 10 balls. At drinks, the Strollers were 75 with three wickets down.
Anand at the other end had quietly put together a nice tally before eventually being caught at cover for a very well-earned 34.
Bennett joined Oliver and helped guide the Strollers towards victory. Oliver cruised past 50 and finished unbeaten on 60, leaving himself only a handful of runs short of 1,000 for the season, with Bennett finishing on 12 not out.
A reasonably comfortable victory for the Strollers in the end, who still had the nuclear option of Simon Brodbeck available with both bat and ball, but mercifully chose not to use him. Chessington should consider themselves lucky.
Capt: Ben Mangham. Wkt: Jake Helsby.
Match fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Jake Helsby.