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Game Comments
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Callum
24/10/2003 12:13:42 pm
With Bart and I late to the game, the toss was held without us, which was won and elected to bat first given there was no sign of the dynamic duo.
Batting:
As per usual, Paul and Chan led us off - and continued their solid run to post 23 for the first partnership. They kept their outs low, with just one out each - and no run outs!
Simon and Bart were second, and got into trouble on the first over getting out twice. They would get out twice more, but still manage to grind out 14. Bart played alot of nice safe shots, with 8 of the 14 he faced going into the sidenets for 2 runs (he still managed a trademark Broadfoot bowled though). Simon did something I can't remember him doing - he played two shots that made it out of the frontcourt. I was so impressed, I could have almost forgotten that those were his only two outs - Doh!
Thanks to the first two partnerships, we were in a position where we could comfortably post 100 runs - all it needed was 32 from the next two partnerships which is not too hard.
Damo and Greg had other ideas, and set about posting a massive 51. The only wicket fell in the first over where they posted a net 3 runs - hardly a massive start. However, they would take overs of 12, 27 and 9 off the remaining bowlers - the 27 was beautiful to watch, partly because of the shots being played, but mostly because it was pissing Bruce off soooooooooo much!
With the total now on an imposing 88, Steve and I would have the job of seeing us through to the finish. All season I've been trying to drive pretty much every ball - at this point, I decided to play it safe. With Bruce on the backnet, and 88 on the board, we weren't needing much to post an imposing target. I got run out once, and Steve had a wicketless 17, in which we posted 39 to take the total to 127.
Shoutout must go to Greg, for his wicketless 23 at a crucial time.
Honourable mentions to Steve and Damon, posting 17 and 18 respectively.
Bowling:
Going into the game, I thought we were going to need to post 110ish to have a competitive target against these guys, so to set 127 was fantastic. As stated before the fielding commenced, the pressure was all on them, and all we had to do was take our chances and lean on them.
Just two wickets fell in their first partnership, setting 38 and putting them ahead of schedule. They didn't offer many chances, and the tall guy in particular was one of their best batsman.
I felt the next partnership was make or break time, and it was not looking good for us. With two balls to go, they had worked their way through to 22, losing three wickets along the way. Fortunately (and I think this was a crucial moment in this game), two wickets fell on the last two balls to knock them back down to 12.
Their third partnership were unknown to us, and weren't hitters it seemed. They didn't find the backnet at all, but got out only twice to post 30 for the third partership.
Their last partnership would need 48 from their four overs, which is a tall order, but not out of the question. They proved this by taking overs of 11 and 12 off their first two to put them on target. They looked to be getting ready to party - but Damon gatecrashed, drank all the beer, pissed in the potplant and insulted the hostess. He took two wickets (one of which was a very sharp stumping to Steve) and two dot balls (which aggravated them into getting out) for an over of -2. They needed 28 off the last over, which Steve was set to bowl. He bowled too tight for them to get him to the boundary, managing it only once (admittedly with a 7).
Shoutout to Damon for his overs of 3 and -2, the second of which came in the clutch moments.
Honourable mention to Steve for a great game with the gloves, some tight bowling in the last over, and that game-swinging over in the 8th over.
Generally:
WOOHOO!
Well played, a solid all-round game. Setting 127 laid the platform, which put all the pressure on them. However, they have only themsleves to blame for the 44 extras that they bowled.
I didn't think our fielding/bowling was spectacular, but it was far from diabolical - which was enough to have them scrambling to get our total. They batted well for 114, not offering many chances.
We've booked our place in the final. It'll be Friday 31st, almost certainly at 7:20 - because we've got my Halloween party afterwards ;)
Personally:
Don't think I took a single catch on the backnet, and there were a few hard chances.
VERY happy to pick up two wickets to take me through to 29 for the season, needing one more for the goal of 30 I set myself mid-season.
8 is a bit less than I'm accustomed to in the batting, but in the context of the game I'm quite happy with it. Looks like a real catfight with Damon for the best batting average :)
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