Won
| Batsmen | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevan Smith | Out | 40 | ||||
| Andy Benning | Out | 19 | ||||
| Retief Van Der Walt | Not Out | 75 | ||||
| Ted Baker | Out | 1 | ||||
| Naqash Tahir | Out | 0 | ||||
| Nigel Thorpe | Out | 0 | ||||
| Harvey Grout | Not Out | 5 | ||||
| Anthony Foley | DNB | |||||
| Waqas Tahir | DNB | |||||
| Liam Smith | DNB | |||||
| Steve Hill | DNB | |||||
| Extras | ||||||
| Bowling | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevan Smith | 8.0 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 4.63 | |
| Andy Benning | 6.0 | 2 | 26 | 3 | 4.33 | |
| Retief Van Der Walt | 3.5 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 2.61 | |
| Harvey Grout | 11.0 | 2 | 41 | 3 | 3.73 | |
| Waqas Tahir | 5.0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 6.40 | |
| Extras | ||||||
| Fielder | Catches | Run Outs | Stumpings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kevan Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nigel Thorpe | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Hill | 1 | 0 | 1 |
HOWZAT!!!!!!
After a couple of poor recent results and some indifferent performances the 2's were back to winning ways this weekend with a 5 wicket win over lowly Hampton Hill.
Our corpulent commander Napoleon Khan was indisposed this week which gave the opportunity to 'Cap'n Ted Baker ' to steer the ship and provide leadership and inspiration to the faithful.
His first test was not long in presenting itself. A week of poor weather and an uncertain forecast, a sticky wicket, rain in the air, remembrance of Napoleon's previous decision to bat on a pudding filled our leader with doubt. Between Scylla and Charbydris,'Call tails' whispered the Goddess of Toss Winners in Cap'n Ted's ear as the coin spun over and over through the heavy atmosphere.
'We'll bat' said the captain of Hampton Hill as the face of our Monarch winked at Cap'n Teddy from the back of a 2p coin after landing with a dull thud.
'Thank you' said Teddy under his breath and offered a silent prayer as the two captains left the middle to prepare the teams for battle.
The Groutmeister opened from the top end to a 7/2 field and Waqash, after last weeks triumph, was entrusted with the new ball from the pavilion end. Hampton Hill's top order were in no mood to hang around and were soon blasting the ball all round the ground and got off to a flyer. Wickets were however falling at fairly regular intervals but the run rate was a concern to 'Cap'n Ted'.
'Have a blow Waqash, we need to take the pace off the ball' said our leader.
This tactic soon paid dividends as the HH batsmen struggled to get the ball off the square. Although the slow bowling from your author wasn't as accurate as normally expected he made the breakthrough and was shortly afterwards removed from the attack. Harvey continued manfully from the top end and one particular wicket was noteworthy.
The number 4 HH batsmen was looking particularly dangerous but Harveys guile induced him to an injudicious shot.
' Thorpey !!! ' 10 Sonning players called in unison to arouse him from his somnambulistic state at extra cover and what should have been a regulation catch was transformed into a one-handed wonder dismissal.
Retief took over from the bottom end and took a couple of wickets while Benjo clean bowled three of the remaining HH players bowling with fire and accuracy. The final wicket was pouched by Le Boeuf at mid on and HH were all out for 154 in 32 overs 40 minutes before the tea interval.
In his first match ' Cap'n Ted ' shuffled his bowlers well and was well supported by the fielders, albeit with a couple of lapses. Snake tipped one over the bar at first slip and either Waqash or Naqash let one through his legs to go for an unnecessary boundary.
Sonnings openers had to negotiate a tricky 30 minutes before tea and came through unscathed at 26-0. This presaged what was to become an action packed and exciting second half of the game.
The HH opening bowler broke the record for having the longest run up of any bowler seen at St Georges Field. Twice round the top end sight screen, once round the square leg umpire before he reached the crease and unleashed deliveries which must have topped 55 mph. This lasted an over and a half before sense prevailed and he cut his run up down to a tenth of the distance it started. He was then much more dangerous and bowled exceedingly well. Le Bouef and Benjo battled to 50 before Benjo misread the length of a delivery and was bowled by one that kept a bit low. This was the start of what proved to be an explosive period of play as our South African Wunderkid strode manfully to the crease. Women and small children were ushered indoors for their own safety, dog walkers were putting helmets on their pets as Retief began his innings.
A few sagacious words from Le Boeuf about playing yourself in, waiting for the bad ball and giving the bowlers respect was completely ignored by Retief as he began to slaughter the bowling. 6, 4,4, dot, 6, swish, were the entries in the first over bowling column for their captain as Retief pulled and cut the ball to all parts of the ground. In a second wicket stand of 72, Le Bouef was out at 125 for 2 and contributed just 11 runs to what turned out to be a match winning partnership. Retief was awesome. But this wasn't the end of the drama.
With just twenty more runs required for a comfortable victory ' Cap'n Ted ' got one which exploded off a length and was caught and bowled. The next ball Waqash missed a straight one and was given out lbw and after a farcical couple of minutes Thorpey came in ahead of Harvey, who was faffing about getting changed, and was clean bowled for 0 first ball. A hat trick off the first three balls of the over with Retief stranded at the other end.
'Did you forget to take your bat with you Daddy' asked young Sam, echoing the thoughts of several of the Sonning players watching helplessly through their fingers from the pavilion.
Harvey coolly saw out the rest of the over and cover drove beautifully to ease the tension. Retief then decided enough was enough and smacked a couple of fours and an almighty 6 over mid wicket ( moo ) to see us to safety and victory by 5 wickets. 75 not out and his best innings since coming to Sonning.
A marvellous game played in a good spirit was over and we retired to the pavilion to enjoy a satisfying sherbert or two to celebrate a fine victory.
With Mr and Mrs Wildthing on holiday tea was provided by Irene and three of her lovely friends who also doubled as bar staff for the rest of the evening. A terrific tea it was too. Thank you very much and we hope to see more of you in the future. Or should that be see you more often in the future, nevertheless is was a pleasure seeing you there.
Le Bouef
