16 June 2007 St Lukes ‘A’ v Ottershaw &
St Lukes team:
James Somers (Capt),
Barry Myers
Hemant Joneja (w/k)
Richard Somers
Dieter Grutzner
Shoukat Rahman
Evan Huyerman
Mark Boulton
Wasif Zamir
Oliver Heath
Bob Gaddes.
Some matches can be won or lost on the toss of a coin, and this was probably one of them. The pitch was patchy and morning rain had suggested it would start lively and then slow as the rain was absorbed into the ground. James called and lost (again) and, not surprisingly, St Lukes were put in to bat.
James and Barry opened. The early overs confirmed some exaggerated bounce and shot making was difficult. James was out early, fishing outside off stump (4-1), so last week’s heroics were not to be repeated. Hemant joined Barry and tried to rebuild but two rain breaks – the latter to accommodate a torrential downpour - did not help. The match was reduced to 44 overs a side but it was quickly apparent that the rain had slowed the outfield considerably. Hemant managed to take the score along to 39 before being caught (25), and then Richard and Barry went in quick succession. At 45-4 a low score looked on the cards. However, the middle order rallied with contributions from Dieter (24), Shocks (15) – again caught going for the longest boundary – Evan (17) and Wasif (10 on debut). Mark (8 n.o.) and Bob (3 n.o.) saw the innings through to 126 and it was to be hoped that Mark’s refusal of a perfectly good run of the last ball did not turn out to be crucial.
Realising that an early breakthrough was required, James went behind the stumps and Hemant opened the bowling with Bob. However, only looking for 3 an over, with the pitch slowing and outfield quickening all the time, O&HM could afford to take their time. Hemant bowled with pace and movement conceding only 9 runs off his 6 overs – but the other bowlers could not match this. Bob missed a sharp caught and bowled chance off the opposition top scorer before having his partner well caught in the slips by Shoks to finish with 28-1. O&HM moved along comfortably and despite wickets for Evan (37-1) and Shoks (19-1) St Lukes could not induce the collapse that was required. A fist league defeat and only 4 points was a poor return on the day’s efforts.
Man of the match – Hemant, attempting to lead with bat, ball and pads.