2nd XI
Matches
Sat 08 Jun 2019  ·  2nd XI Division 1
Roehampton Cricket Club
2nd XI
192/1
190
Godalming CC - 2nd XI
Yasir and Saqib to the rescue

Yasir and Saqib to the rescue

Josh Bloom11 Jun 2019 - 14:08
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.roehamptoncricketc

Yas and Saqib star as Roehampton go from facing 136/0 to winning by nine wickets.

Words: Joe Purnell

So, RCC took on Godalming at home. Now this particular game was a timed game. As we all know the season is divided into two halves, timed and limited overs. Or to put it more accurately, one quarter, one half and another quarter.

The etiquette for timed cricket is somewhat simple: win the toss, bowl first, try to chase down the score but when it all gets a bit hard give up on cricket all together and proceed to push, block and leave anything that is hurled your way, no matter how juicy or quick it may be. So imagine our surprise when Godalming won the toss and chose to bat…

Now, back to the quarters and halves, not particularly hard maths, however very relevant to this game. Commonly, one would describe a game of most sports as a game of two halves. Google it (other search engines are available) and you’ll be inundated with hits. In the case of Roehampton v Godalming in the Fullers County League 2nd XI, it was a game of four quarters... Sort of.

Q1

Roehampton proceeded to bowl horribly. I’m not going to dwell on this for too long as to be honest, I don’t really remember, I wasn’t ‘well’ at this point. There were hissy fits however and hats were thrown into the ground in disgust (mainly by me). (I'm told Stu Allen was not at all grumpy. Citation needed - Ed). We looked like we would be chasing 450. There was infighting. We dropped catches, three to be precise, the same guy, three times. Once by me. I still was not 'well' though.

Q2

We got him. The danger man, gone for a well struck 89. At this point we rattled through the remainder of the Godalming batsmen. From 136-0 to 190 all out. We remembered to catch: H. Purnell grabbed three dollies, and others were shared around. Special mention to Yas who spearheaded the attack with 7 wickets as part of a monster spell. No special mention for Fuchsy, who got hit for 70 runs and dropped two catches. He also named his dog after himself.

Q3&4

Now, these quarters ran concurrently, and we must revert back to Joe Purnell’s guide for playing timed cricket, which was discussed further up. Usually it works how it was described. It is rare that you will see one side try and do both at the same time. This is exactly what Mods and Saqib proceeded to do. Saqib batting so freely, with real class at a strike rate of well over 100, it all looked so effortless and elegant. Mods, on the other hand who, by his usual lofty standards, has been finding it all too hard recently, shut up shop… immediately. He proceeded to push everything back to the bowlers. A strike rate lower than the over count. A score lower than the over count. Real 100-9 stuff... but he opened. It worked and he carried his bat for 46, which even surprised him, while Saqib finished with a near chanceless 106* and we knocked them off for one down. Harry may have scored some runs too. A fantastic result given the situation in the first quarter. But feel for the incredibly hungover number four who shelled a tough chance and spent the entire innings sat there in his pads. Thanks for coming Joe Purnell. At least he got to write the match report…

MOM: Saqib – a quality innings of 106*, who narrowly edged out Yas for MoM. His 7-49 to drag us back into the game from a terrible position. (Having to pick between a seven wicket haul and an unbeaten ton for MoM??? Big fan of this! - Ed).

Match details

Match date

Sat 08 Jun 2019

Kickoff

13:00

Meet time

12:00

Instructions

Please meet at the ground for 12 noon to help setup

Competition

2nd XI Division 1
Team overview
Further reading