Saturday 27th June 2009 vs Southill Park C.C.
 
Glorious weather, beautiful setting and an absolute nailbiter!
 
Southill Park C.C. 253 for 9 (45 overs)
Washington C.C. 252 for 6 (45 overs)
 

The Wash returned to beautiful Southill Park to play a 45 over game in glorious conditions. Southill Park won the toss and decided to bat and quickly lost early wickets to Pushnapath (9, 0, 1-36) and Hill (9, 0, 1-57). However, Slater and settled in and aided by poor fielding and dropped catches, put on a 100+ partnership before finally being broken by Kloss (9, 0, 1-37) who had Slater caught for 60.

Young Barter continued scoring and was well supported by Jones. Cumming (9, 2, 0-55) and Pendry (6, 0, 0-41) bowled without luck and Southill Park continued to score quickly until a late bowling change saw Davis trap Barter LBW on 96 and then bowl Jones for 53.

Southill Park batted aggressively in the final overs and while getting runs, also saw wickets fall to Davis who finished with a match best of 2 overs, 3-10 and Bhaskar (1, 0, 2-6) and Hill combining for 2 stumpings. Southill Park finished with a competitive 9-253.

After the usual excellent tea, the Wash batsmen felt confident with a strong batting lineup and additional motivation with all the WAGs present. Davis and Cumming looked well up for the challenge but Cumming (8) miscued a shot and was caught at fine leg. Harris joined Davis and the two combined for a 91 run partnership before Davis was bowled for 60. At 2-108 after 20 overs, the Wash was on track and continued to score as Matthews continued where Davis left off and added 82 with Harris before being stumped for 35 and the Wash at 3 for 186 after 34.

Harris continued to score well despite being visibly exhausted due to the heat and humidity and a lot of work in the field. However, the quick dismissal of Cruickshank for a duck and Fogarty for 12 after some aggressive hitting saw the Wash at 5-212 after 39 and needing to keep moving. Hill moved himself up the order to help Harris but was only able to make 5 before being plum LBW leaving the Wash at 6-217 with 5 overs to go. Bhaskar joined Harris and the two continued to score at the required rate with some great shots in particular by Harris and a lot of singles.

At the start of the last over, Harris and Bhaskar were on 247 needing 254 to win. Gill (who had already taken 3 wickets) continued to bowl well getting a dot ball for the first and only allowing singles for the next 4 balls as the tired Harris in particular was struggling to hit the ball as well as he had earlier in the innings. The final ball saw Bhaskar facing needing 3 to win or two to tie. Gill was up to the challenge and Bhaskar was unable to get the ball past the fielder for more than a single.

Thus after 45 overs each, the Wash fell short by one run in what was an epic encounter. Skipper Hill said later "a fantastic game at a fantastic venue although one can't help wondering what the result would have been had catches been held and free runs in the field avoided".

While disappointing to lose, it was a match that will go down into Wash folklore and ensure that the boys will be keen as ever for a return to beautiful Southill Park. After the match, players and WAGs enjoyed the usual Southill Park hospitality and watched hot air balloons in the sunset as they relived the day's events with stories already being embellished. Many thanks to the WAGs for coming along and supporting the team on the day.

 

Man of the Match - Tony the Kiwi Harris for his valiant 41 over 88 run effort that ensured the nailbiting finish.

Packing the Kit - Ash for playing his natural game and being bowled (again) for a duck

top   back
Batting
Player Runs How out
Chris Davis 60 Bowled
Mark Cumming 8 Caught
Tony Harris 88* 
Glenn Matthews 35 Stumped
Ash Cruickshank 0 Bowled
Lee Fogarty 12 Caught
Shawn Hill 13 LBW
Chad Bhaskar 5* 
Did Not Bat
Peter Kloss
Ahir Pushpanath
Russell Pendry
Partnerships
Wkt Runs Batsmen
1 14 Chris Davis  &  Mark Cumming
2 91 Chris Davis  &  Tony Harris
3 82 Tony Harris  &  Glenn Matthews
4 0 Tony Harris  &  Ash Cruickshank
5 19 Tony Harris  &  Lee Fogarty
6 7 Tony Harris  &  Shawn Hill
7 49 * Tony Harris  &  Chad Bhaskar



Fielding
Player Cts Wkt Cts Stmps
Mark Cumming 1 - -
Lee Fogarty 1 - -
Glenn Matthews 1 - 2
Bowling
Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts
Russell Pendry 6.0 0 41 0
Peter Kloss 9.0 0 37 1
Chris Davis 2.0 0 10 3
Shawn Hill 9.0 0 36 1
Chad Bhaskar 1.0 0 6 2
Ahir Pushpanath 9.0 0 57 1
Mark Cumming 9.0 2 55 0
Top