Match Report
Friday 10 July –v- Belhus at North Stifford
With eight overs gone Crusaders were teetering on the brink at 26-5 and had it not been for some benevolence from Barry Ruck the Belhus skipper, the afternoons cricket might well have been a short one. Some twenty overs later he may well have been regretting the decision. After he 'called off the dogs', we made a dramatic recovery, inspired by Superstar Sarwar and the ILM. Together they raised a partnership of 122, which enabled the tail, marshalled by a whirlwind 41 from Nomi to wag us up to a competitive 223-9 from our allotted 40 overs.
The afternoon could not have started much worse, with Gary feathering to the keeper in the second over, followed by the quick departures of Slapdash, Gordy, debutant Abdul and the unfortunate Sumo. Amid much disillusionment on the sidelines, Spud was still confident that we had the talent to rescue the situation. Jabs (69) played immaculately, without offering a chance, scoring 12 boundaries and he was ably supported by Chand, who played as close to a mature innings as is possible.
Belhus were young and energetic in the field, but as the partnership grew it was evident that some heads were dropping and it took the re-introduction of the pacy Kenyon to raise flagging spirits. When Chand (56) was finally dismissed for a third consecutive fifty, Nomi carried on in similar vein, crashing eight boundaries in a quick-fire 41. Damon offered good support in a partnership of 34, which took the total through the 200 barrier, before they both departed in quick succession.
Tea was taken in a small marquee and lived up to the usual high standards that we have come to enjoy.
Despite posting our highest score of the season, Spud was conscious that the pitch and outfield was tailor made for fast scoring and that in the absence of Danglers and Mr Taylor we were looking a little under resourced in the bowling department. With that in mind Jabs and Spud opened the bowling in an attempt to keep things tight early on. Spud almost made the breakthrough with his third ball of the day, but the outside edge found its way between wicket-keeper Eeyore and Gordy at slip. This looked to be costly, as the Belhus openers pushed the ball around confidently, building a sensible opening partnership.
In an effort to break the stand, the bowling was rotated, but it was an opportunist piece of work in the field that finally got us the breakthrough. Nomi and Chand had gradually turned the screw on the scoring rate and when the ball was driven in the air to Jabs, who promptly spilled the chance, Chand was quick to react, throwing down the stumps to remove Jefferies.
The ace up Spud's sleeve proved to be Neil Morrison, whose little seen, quirky brand of leg-spin removed the dangerous looking Pannelli and the old head Wright. Despite having 7 wickets in hand Belhus were fast running out of overs, as they failed to find the boundary enough times. Gary put the disappointment of his Duck behind him, with a good three over spell, that should have included a wicket, but for a drop by Don. Spud finally removed the stubborn Clark who had played an un-troubled innings of 63, before a rush of blood 'dance down the track' ended with a lightning stumping from The Don.
Belhus still had some young guns in the tail, who continued to throw caution to the wind, until Chand in his final over delivered the death knell, taking a wicket and leaking only 2 runs. This enabled Spud the luxury of a Damon over. Not even he could go for 26 - could he; of course not. With variation Dermot Reeve would have been proud of Dave closed out the game with a head high full-toss, preceded by a two bouncer. At the close Belhus had fallen 11 runs short, finishing on 212-9.
