Greys Green (A) – 26.5.12

RUASCC 219-6
Zia 103 not out, Eagle 51

Greys Green 188-7
Withers 4-57, Waqar 3-42

Match drawn

On a cloudless Saturday afternoon with the temperature in the mid-twenties there aren’t many places I’d rather be than Greys Green Cricket Club – great group of players, the games are always competitive and the ground isn’t too shabby either:

With several of our men running late due to last minute team changes (Waqar had to be drafted in at 1pm) we were asked to bat first when Eagle lost the toss again - a great result for this scorer/number 11 who rather fancied the idea of relaxing in the sun for a couple of hours while occasionally writing down some numbers.

RUASCC suffered a bit of a West-Indies-at-Trent-Bridge-2012 start to the innings, faltering to 66-4 on a decent batting track as opening bowler Ahmed removed Ward (15), Carpenter (5) and Malde (7) in his first eight overs. Dip went on the attack and hit four boundaries before he got carried away and played an injudicious drive off Skilleter to be caught at mid-off for 17. Fear not, though, because Captain “Boycs” Eagle was still there on 20 not out after 23 overs.

Fortunately the middle order staged a West-Indies-at-Trent-Bridge-2012 recovery. The first over after Zia’s arrival produced 15 runs and, with the bowlers becoming slightly less assured of their line and length, anything overpitched was dispatched with sickening ease. Eagle focused mainly on the scoring areas through gully and backward square leg as the pair added fifty in six overs to put the innings back on track.

There was a worrying moment when Eagle crumpled to the ground after a collision with Skilliter at the non-striker’s end. A crowd gathered round and umpire Chan, fearing a neck injury, asked if Eagle was able to move his feet. “Since when has Eagle ever been able to move his feet?” Dr Ashman didn’t say until a bit later.

Anyway, Eagle was soon upright and he survived a huge shout for caught behind by cleverly edging behind without the umpires noticing. And you know Eagle: he WILL walk if he thinks he’s edged it and he thinks it was caught and he thinks Sagittarius is passing through Venus on a Thursday morning and you can see the International Space Station from the Tower of Pisa.

Both batsmen passed fifty in consecutive balls of the 35th over but Eagle did eventually give himself out when he scooped Pat Sims’ first ball straight to cover. Thanks to that 90-run partnership the score was now a more respectable 156-5.

Greenhalf became Ahmed’s fourth victim, bowled for 2, but an exciting fifty stand between brothers Zia and Waqar took the score past 200. The declaration came as Zia swept the four that took him to his century - another superb knock that included three sixes and fourteen fours in just a little under 19 overs.

And the all-rounder didn’t get much of a rest because as soon as the scones had been devoured he was back out in the hot sun opening the bowling. This proved to be a struggle for everyone: the bowlers couldn’t make the breakthrough and the batsmen ambled along at three an over to eventually reach 51-0.

Left-hander Howse was called back after a stumping misunderstanding and also survived an edge behind off Withers that no one appealed, but his luck finally ran out when he tried to defend a Withers yorker that spun back onto his stumps. Waqar continued his fine wicket-taking form by bowling Holroyd just after the drinks break, at which point Greys still needed 155 in 18 overs.

They really set about it too, taking 80 from the next ten overs before Waqar switched ends and dismissed Cusden for 27. Still, with seven wickets in hand a Greys win looked a distinct possibility until Captain Eagle did the only thing you can do when looking for containment and/or wickets – he threw the ball back to Withers.

(I’m sorry, did you say Withers? Don’t you mean Zia? Withers, really? No, nothing it’s just… I’m sure you know what you’re doing.)

Well, after a couple of tight overs the required rate reached 12-per-over and the batsmen started playing across the line to straight deliveries. First Withers bowled opener Knight for a fine 79, then Waqar took the important wicket of Skilleter.

The match was saved and Withers began the final over needing to take just five wickets in six balls to win it! Shafqat was clean bowled with the first delivery but there was to be no miracle ending – only one more fell before stumps. That left Greys seven wickets down (all clean bowled) and 31 runs behind.

RUASCC Highlight: Playing cricket on such a perfect day, not losing and then having beer.

RUASCC Man of the Match: There could be a few candidates this week but for the unbeaten century followed by ten overs with economy of 2.7 – it’s Zia.

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle (capt), Carpenter, Malde, Dip (wkt), Zia, Greenhalf, Waqar, Tranter, Ashman, Withers

Shedfield (A) – 20.5.12

RUASCC 153 all out
Eagle 34, Abbas 25

Shedfield 83 all out
Waqar 3-5, Zia 3-29

RUASCC won by 70 runs

After three weeks of rain and cancellations the weather finally improved just enough for us to complete our first game of the season, a new fixture down in Shedfield (near Marwell Zoo, for reference). On inspection of the square it became apparent we would be playing on the astroturf strip, and RUASCC were asked to make first use of it when Eagle lost the toss.

Despite some comedy calling early on (Carpenter should have been run out first ball) runs came steadily in the first few overs as Eagle used the full width of his bat to “steer” the ball through the slip and gully region. Wides also made a significant contribution before Carpenter eventually gloved behind to bring the 49-run opening partnership to an end; two overs later Eagle, having hit six boundaries, was bowled by a quicker one for a confident 34.

But RUASCC soon recovered from this encouraging start and began to collapse in style. 76-2 became 107-7 as Dip (LBW for 1), Zia (run out by the wicketkeeper for 8) and debutant Turley (caught behind for 1) all departed quickly. Chan Malde (14) showed he’s been watching too much IPL when his attempted reverse-sweep spooned high in the air and practically landed on gully. Then Waqar (2) middled a pull straight to the man at mid-on and the innings looked all but over.

What happened next was quite disgraceful: Waseem Abbas, another young man playing his first game for the club, showed a complete lack of regard for self-destruction protocol and walloped a six over mid-on for his first RUASCC runs. Two fours and another six followed in a 36-run stand with Tranter, who contributed four singles, and we suddenly had a target to bowl at. Abbas was caught for 25 and Tranter bowled for seven leaving last pair Withers and Pensioner Ken Stewart at the crease.

It was all over too quickly, alas, as Withers tipped a ball into the leg side and, apparently forgetting who his partner was, confidently and decisively called for a quick single. Halfway down the track, realising he was the only one moving, he uttered an oath in the general direction of the non-striker and was hopelessly and embarrassingly run out for 0. 153 all out.

After tea (delivered from the pub across the road) the home side’s response stuttered as Withers, enjoying the extra bounce provided by the plastic pitch, took a wicket in his first over and Zia bowled the other opener to make it 16-2. A useful partnership of 31 followed but Zia regained control and removed both batsmen in the space of three overs, the latter thanks to a catch by Eagle protecting the long-on boundary after several shots aimed in that direction.

With 20 overs remaining Shedfield (one man short) needed 100 to win with five wickets in hand but were subsequently unable to put together another meaningful partnership. Waseem replaced Withers and bowled a useful spell down the hill but it was Waqar at the other end who bamboozled the middle order to finish with incredible figures of 3-5 from three overs (one bowled, one LBW, one caught & bowled).

Eager to finish off the match Eagle turned to the senior citizens. Ken Stewart (1-1) needed only one over to remove the last recognised batsman despite seeing two chances dropped (one by a very apologetic Waqar, one by entirely unapologetic run out victim Withers) and Tranter (1-0) needed only two balls to seal the win.

And thus RUASCC’s unbeaten start to the season extends until at least May 25th.

RUASCC Highlight: Waseem Abbas scoring his first runs for RUASCC with an enormous six over mid-on.

RUASCC Man of the Match: For top-scoring with 34 and holding on to a couple of important catches, it’s Dr Eagle.

RUASCC Team: Eagle (capt), Carpenter, Malde, Dip (wkt), Zia, Turley, Abbas, Waqar, Tranter, Stewart, Withers