Tuesday 28th June 2011
The time is 8.45pm, but as the sun creeps lower into the western horizon the tension is rising. The final ball of the match is about to be bowled. The Real Neston are batting, their final batsman is at the crease and they are 11 runs behind. Surely a 1st victory for the Greasby Roaders?
But this is LMS cricket (Last Man Stands) - don't forget, a 6 scored off the final ball of an innings counts as 12 runs, d'oh! All the fielders are hugging the boundary rope and practicing leaping as high as they can in the event of a big hit coming their way. Peter, the man entrusted with the final over, has the ball in hand and starts his run up into the crease. As the ball is released, hearts are in mouths. The ball heads straight down the middle of the pitch, landing just short of a length and pops up - the batsman swings his arms at full tilt with dreams of smashing this ball over the mid-wicket boundary for 6, i.e. 12 and a 1 run win...
...and heeeeeee's MISSED IT!
WAH-HEYYYY!!! 1ST WIN 1ST WIN 1ST WIN - the whole team are running around ecstatic and it's high 5's all round as we struggle to conceal our emotions before commiserating with the final batsman and the losing team.
A victory that earlier on in the game had seemed highly improbable. The platform was set with a quick fire 33 from Bryan but others struggled to find the middle of the bat and at 12 overs the scoring rate was just over 4 an over with the score on 50 runs. Enter Charles and Stephen - Charles stroking a superb unbeaten 33 off 25 balls and - BANG, BANG, BANG - an explosive 53 off just 24 balls from Stephen. Suddenly, at 20 overs, The Greasby Roaders are an improbable 139-4?!?
Right, over to the bowlers - and what a fantastic effort it was, both from the bowlers and once again in the field. Bryan, practically redundant in last week's game, using those big hands to great effect to clean up all loose shots pulled to the sqaure leg boundary. On the opposite side, James, defying 47yrs of hard and fast living, with leaps and dives reminiscent of a man 20yrs his youth making several good stops on the deep cover boundary. Charles, having a stab at keeping wicket, clearing up every delivery with stylish panache and was eventually rewarded with a fine catch from one that snicked the outside edge. Jeff, the most economical of all the bowlers was unlucky with 2 or 3 that grazed the stumps. Nick weighed in with a catch towards the end as the Real Neston started to fling the bat around. A crucial wicket for Mark with the final delivery of his 4 over spell helped tip the balance of the scales away from the Real Neston. Peter eventually claiming 2 wickets and a fine effort to bowl out the final over under mounting pressure - lesser men may have buckled. But for an Ian-Botham-esque man of the match performance - a great innings by Stephen Willet... 50 in the 1st innings, a fine catch in the 2nd and 3 wickets.. a marvellous all round perfomance.. to match some of the others he's produced...
(play from 4:27)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkkvgiZJkhM&feature=related
A superb team effort considerably bolstered by an amazing 1 man effort, well played all, our 1ST VICTORY:-
| The Greasby Roaders vs The Real Neston |
| Date: Tue 28 Jun 2011 |
| Batted First: The Greasby Roaders |
| The Greasby Roaders Score: 139 for 4 after 20.0 |
| The Real Neston Score: 128 for 7 after 20.0 |
| The Greasby Roaders won by 11 runs |
match stats:-
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