Another JP ton drives 1s to friendly win

Words: Toby Lelean

This week’s fixture saw us playing Hampton Hill CC away in an impromptu friendly. As the team arrived at Bushy Park it was not lost on us that the outfield would give Putney Heath a run for its money in terms of challenging the fielders. Rain had been coming down hard in days previous resulting in a very damp outfield and a wicket to match. However, BBC promised the weather would hold which was surprising given the ominous cloud cover.

To our surprise Dharmesh once again won the toss and given the strength and depth of our batting recently decided to send us out to bat. There was a feeling that summer was very much over as JP and Stephen went out to bat.

We started strong and positively with a few early boundaries however it was clear early on it was going to be difficult to score runs on a slow outfield and a wicket which was very much in the bowler’s favour. Other than the 122 not out for JP (very well played) our batting left a lot to be desired. Arguably the highlight was a pitch invasion from several deer (which I thought was a good omen for the game given our affiliation with said animal). At points JP must have wondered if anyone would stick around at the other end due to wickets falling at very consistent intervals. To our surprise the man to step up was Mo. In a very unrecognisable innings, he scored 11 off 41 deliveries at a strike rate of 26.83 (yes you heard that right 26.83). In the end we made our way to a very impressive 212/7 on a pitch in which 160 seemed a good score.

After a quick tea we went out fully layered up into the field. As seen from our batting innings the pitch was very much in favour of the bowlers and all that was needed was a consistent line and length and the pitch would take care of the rest. This came to fruition as after 10 overs we had the opposition 31/6 in no small part due to an excellent bowling performance from Mo on two occasions hitting the top of off stump and sending the bails flying (a bowler’s dream). The most excitement came from 2 wickets in 2 balls leaving Mo on a hat trick. In typical cricketing fashion the fielders were stuck in catching positions and with a nervous looking batsman at the crease all were quietly confident. To his credit and our dismay, a solid-ish looking forward defensive was played and the hat trick not to be. The first change in bowling saw the dual spinning combination of Sahil and Jono come on to bowl. As we all know these middle overs are the key to success and we were not disappointed. The relentless pace of both spinners saw the game slip away from Hampton Hill as they struggled to keep up with the run rate. They both ended their spells with a wicket a piece setting Ron up perfectly to finish them off. In typical Ron style he hit a consistent line and length from the beginning and got the wicket of David Coates (28) a key wicket. With one wicket to go and in typical fashion, JP not wanting to be forgotten got on the board with a run out ending the game on 151 off 35 overs.

With nothing else but to bump fists it was back to the clubhouse for some post-match ‘refreshments’. The beer always tastes sweeter after a win!