Match Report
Crusaders fell agonisingly short of overhauling Sutton’s total of 217, with Spud holing out in the deep attempting to hit a winning boundary from the final ball of the day.
Sutton won the toss and had little hesitation in taking first knock. With a blend of youth and experience, Crusaders were given a lesson from the younger end of the spectrum; Sutton’s colts gave the Crusaders fielder’s a torrid time.
Riyad and Harry opened the bowling, with each presenting problems to the Sutton openers. Riyad eventually got his man, removing the elder statesman of the partnership, who then embarked on the long walk back to the pavilion chastising and self flagellating for the whole route. Noble’s removal brought a succession of well schooled, fleet of foot youngsters to the crease. What they lacked in power, they more than made up for with speed between the wickets. Any shot that evaded a fielder was a single taken with consummate ease; the fly in the ointment was the odd one that was turned into a two. Riyad’s bowling action came under close scrutiny from the Square-Leg Umpire and Wajih chose to withdraw him after 5 overs; a shame as he was tying an end up. Blake. J, who was put down early in his innings by Spud at slip and Green added a largely untroubled 70, with few if any boundaries, until Blake aimed an optimistic pull at Pommie and top-edged to Rana. When Green slashed to Spud at Backward Point also off Pommie, our hosts were 79-2 and close to half way through their allotted overs.
If Crusaders thought there would be some let up, they were sadly mistaken. New batsmen Leonard and Ogunlana continued the theme, adding another 69 runs, before Ogunlana chipped a delivery from Gajinder and was well taken by Jagdesh for a breezy 45. With overs running out but wickets in hand, Sutton was able to push the score along, despite all Crusaders bowlers performing well. Only a last over aberration from Harry blotted the copy book; for some reason he thought it better to bowl the final over left handed. Sutton agreed and took 19 runs from it. This slightly disappointing finish meant we were chasing 218 for victory, rather than a score that should have been closer to 200. The moral of this tale is – unless you are Jony IPL Singh stick to what you do best.
Following a top class tea – vegetarians well catered for – Crusaders made their response. It was soon apparent that the two sides approach to batting was poles apart; why run quick singles when you can smack boundaries? Unfortunately with playing big shots comes risk, with both Goldie and Jagdesh the victims of rash shots. When Riyad over committed to a second run, the victim of a direct hit from the deep, it brought Lucky to the crease for what proved to be the biggest partnership of our reply. Together with the Skip 62 was added to the total, before Wajih – having just passed fifty – succumbed to a tired looking shot. Our hopes of victory were further dashed, when Gajinder changed his mind ‘ramp-shot’ and only succeeded in helping the ball to the waiting keeper.
The tail wagged, with good contributions from Rana, Harry and Loepreet, but the asking rate gradually escalated, with too many dot balls on the scorecard. Lucky was the opposite of his moniker, when having surpassed his career best score he fell one short of fifty and despite a valiant attempt from Pommie and Spud Sutton held on.
