Strollers lost by two runs
Roehampton 219-7
(35 overs; Travis 4-33, Oliver 1-26, Macaulay 1-34, Broster-Turley 1-35)
Strollers 217-8
(35 overs; Oliver 52ret, Travis 50ret, Dela Rue 32no, Broster-Turley 21, Mulholland 15, Wall 14, Hartley 10)
The Roehampton
Cricket Club Cavaliers welcomed the Fleet Street Strollers to a parched and
dusty Putney Heath for an absorbing 35-over a-side contest. Captain Alastair
Macaulay lost the toss and the Cavaliers elected to bat first. This was an easy
decision for the Cavaliers captain given the scorching conditions, true surface
for batting, and rapid outfield.
Matthew
Luddington (50 ret. off 58 balls, nine fours) and the Power brothers (Al and
Oz) got Roehampton off to a solid start punishing any short balls and driving
well along the ground against the Strollers opening duo of James Dela Rue
(7-0-41-0) and Freddie Broster-Turley (7-2-35-1).
Dela Rue and
Broster-Turley toiled manfully in challenging bowling conditions with FBT getting
the breakthrough, Al Power (18 off 19 balls, two fours) adjudged leg before
wicket.
Glen Oliver
(7-1-26-1) and Blair Travis (5-0-33-4) were introduced into the attack as first
and second change with Oliver proving tougher to score off for the well-set Oz
Power (43 off 43 balls, eight fours). Travis picked up middle order wickets
including a well-judged catch courtesy of Sean Bourke as the Strollers doggedly
attempted to restrict the Cavaliers to a chaseable total.
Robert Wall was
his usual tidy self behind the stumps through a bye-less first half of the
innings. The flight and guile of the evergreen Alastair Macaulay (6-0-34-1)
accounted for Siddharth Sharma (10 off 10 balls, 1 four). Neale Mulholland
started brightly with ball in hand towards the end of the Roehampton innings
before his radar went askew (3-0-40-0), however he acquitted himself well in
the field with one of the stronger arms at the club.
The Cavaliers
ended up on 219 for the loss of seven wickets with the 75-run sixth-wicket partnership
between Shakoor Munfrid (39 off 37 balls, four fours and one six) and Asad Abro
(20 off 25 balls, two fours) providing the mainstay for the second half of the
innings.
A royal golden
duck* for Bourke brought Neil Hartley to join Oliver (52 ret. off 34 balls,
nine fours and one six) at the crease with two contrasting styles of play on
show. One exhibited panache and made the most of the conditions whilst the
other was happy to see off the sharp Neelakash Biswas (7-2-29-1).
*Readers are
free to split hairs over whether the royal golden duck moniker applies only to
a dismissal off the first ball of the match or whether this extends to the
first ball of the innings.
Hartley’s (10
off 34 balls, two fours) departure trying to up the scoring rate off first
change bowler James Macleod (7-0-39-2) brought Brad Treblicock to the crease.
An eventful six-ball duck from Treblicock included unfortunately being struck
amidships before perishing in the covers.
Travis (50 off
56 balls, six fours) was as reliable as ever and received support from the
middle order of Wall (14 off 13 balls, two fours), Mulholland (15 off 10 balls,
three fours), and Broster-Turley (21 off 11 balls, three fours and one six) as
the Strollers kept pace with the required run rate.
Mulholland
burnished his batting credentials with a rambunctious innings of hitting from
the Hutt Valley softball leagues before a pre-meditated charge to Asad Abro
(6-0-47-1) left Sharma with the most regulation of stumpings to
complete.
The star of the
Strollers chase, however, was Dela Rue. DLR scored a personal best 32 not out
(off 34 balls, two fours and two sixes) to drive the Strollers towards the
target. The straight six will live long in the memory of those who witnessed it,
especially for this correspondent who has watched Dela Rue’s efforts with his
stick from pre-pubescence onwards.
The
introduction of Oz Power (3-0-13-1) late in the innings helped to shift the
momentum the way of the Cavaliers. The Strollers required seven runs to win off
the last over with Dela Rue and Simon Brodbeck at the crease, but were unable
to get over the line due to some exceptional death bowling and lost by two runs.
The Strollers
retired to The Telegraph Free House for post-match refreshments and were left
to ponder the fine margins of a close contest, the meaning of life, and the secrets
of the universe.
The question of
batting retirements looms large in the Strollers’ self-reflections but if
Luddington had continued to bat on in the first innings, a much stiffer target
would have been set by the Cavaliers.
Roehampton
Cricket Club Cavaliers were worthy winners by two runs and exemplary hosts to
the many Strollers’ friends and family who had joined to watch. We look forward
to returning next year.
Capt: Alastair Macaulay. Wkt: Rob Wall.
Match fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Neil Hartley.