17th June 2007

St Lukes Sunday XI v Busmen of Sutton

St Lukes met a newly formed Sutton Bus Garage which included our old friend Dave Geary.  The Busmen won the toss and elected to field on a pleasant afternoon at Deckers.

Sri and Ollie got the team off to a good start with an opening partnership of 33.  When Ollie was bowled Sri was joined by Mike Williams and the two put on another 68 runs to set the platform for a big score.  However, Mike was then trapped LBW and the batting started to go pear-shaped.  A bright 13 from Roy kept the scoreboard ticking over but a poor decision left him run out by yards.  He was soon followed by Sri having made 57, and a 9th wicket stand of 15 between David Jones (5 not out) and Nick Radiven (9) ensured St Lukes made a respectable 164-9 off the allotted 35 overs.

In reply the Busmen started slowly but looked fairly settled.  Ven bowled very well (5 overs for 4 runs) and was unlucky not to get any wickets beating the bat many times.  At the other end Nick was getting back into the groove and when he made the batsmen play there was always a chance.  Indeed Nick ended with 3 wickets for 15 in his 7-over spell, including Mr Geary, bowled playing his customary shot across the line.  It was now becoming clear the Busmen were struggling.  Debutant, Phin O'Connor, bowled well taking 2 for 3 in 4 overs, and Robin helped mop up the tail with 3 wickets in 3 overs.  Mr Extras starred with 22 in the Busmen's overall total of 41 all out.

Man of the Match - Sri Narayanan.