Match Report
Sunday 10 May –v- West Peckham at West Peckham Village Green
Wajih rang the changes following last week's dismal batting display, drafting Gordy in to replace the rather porous looking 'Rock', with Gary and Ben Magnus taking their Sunday bows in place of Imtiaz and the ILM. Danglers returned from golfing duties to replace Mr Taylor, who was allegedly preparing for an Ofsted inspection - in his own words 'Ridiculous'.
The Green was bathed in sunshine and the Swan even more inviting. Alas the 'Trumpeter' was still in the brewing process, so Spud and Moysey had to settle for Fuggles. With a warm afternoon forecast it was essential that plenty of fluids were taken on board. As usual a good crowd of locals had gathered outside the pub, obviously aware of the Crusaders' reputation.
Crusaders won the toss, which gave us an immediate opportunity to put the Charlatans batting debacle to bed, but perhaps more importantly gave Spud and Darren additional pub time. Waheed was a little unfortunate to be given out lbw to one that appeared high from my vantage point in the tavern and Jagdesh could not come to terms with the lack of pace in the wicket, surviving a couple of times before his luck ran out.
The backbone of the innings was provided by Nita, who peppered all parts of the ground, including some that were precluded from scoring. He was ably supported by Gordy (17) and then Gary (22). On such a small ground runs came either in boundaries or singles and despite Dawson taking 8-52 they came at a good rate. Nita finally perished for a splendid 80, which included four sixes and ten fours. The tail rather fell away, as the skip registered a duck to expose the well lubricated numbers 10 and 11, with only a mature display from Ben Magnus (19) cobbling it all together. Our innings closed on 202 all out, giving West Peckham 75 minutes plus 20 overs to chase down the target.
Danglers and Ben opened the attack, with Darren reaping the benefits of solid preparation, having the West Peckham top order in a quandary. Ben would do well to learn that having a pint of Kronenberg before a game is not big, nor is it clever. Whilst Danglers was dismantling the first four batsmen - all clean bowled - Ben struggled with the slope. Eventually he got his line right and started to beat the bat. Word of Darren's performance obviously spread, with what appeared to be an overspill from the Sangatte Refugee Camp congregating on the top boundary.
Wajih was in ruthless mode, never once offering our hosts a crumb of hope. Spud replaced Ben at the Swan end, extracting bounce and turn from a receptive pitch as he removed the middle-order, with three quick wickets and then Wajih brought himself on, resorting to bowling bouncers (not once, but twice) at the young number 11 to finish the match.
