Mortimer West End (A) – 26.4.15

RUASCC 201-2 (35 overs)

Zia 76 not out, Jas Singh 73 not out, Ward 17

Mortimer West End 106 all out (32.4 overs)

Murphy 2-4, Ward 2-8, Jas Singh 2-14

RUASCC won by 95 runs

If there’s one thing worse than not playing cricket then it has to be playing cricket when it’s freezing cold.  All the pre-season anticipation for the delights of the summer game disappears out the window when you have to take the field in an overcoat, and when Sunday’s forecast improved from “rain all day” to merely “bastard cold” we knew this one was going to be a treat.

Eagle lost the toss and was asked to bat first on a pitch that had been already been used for a Friday evening game and a rain-affected Saturday league match.  Runs proved hard to come by at first, partly due to a slow, wet outfield and partly due to the massive boundary on one side - a full-blooded pull from Ward only earned three runs after the ball travelled 90 metres but stayed within the field of play.  The resulting frustration led to two quick wickets as first Ward came down the track and was bowled before Eagle got one right in the slot and drilled it to gully.

But soon it was the home side who were frustrated - Jas Singh survived a strong appeal for caught behind on 0 before warming up to hit boundaries all around the wicket.  Zia and Jas came together at 39-2 and added fifty in the first eight overs, then accelerated and brought up the hundred partnership before moving to their respective fifties in successive deliveries.  They didn’t stop there, and both brought out the switch hit on their way to an unbroken stand of 162.

The feeling in the pavilion was that our total of 201 was probably enough, and since it was limited overs (hence no pressure to take 10 wickets) the captain felt confident enough not to bowl Zia at all.  Instead Waqar took the new ball, initially struggled for length but recovered well after a change of ends.

Withers did that thing where he bowls seven overs for just 11 runs but nobody can remember a single thing about it.  After boasting the proud record of taking at least one wicket in every appearance last season it’s good to get used to disappointment nice and early in 2015.

Daman Singh experimented with a shortened run up but was quickly asked by the captain to revert to “proper” bowling (with improved results), while Jas Singh added to his two wickets the previous week with two more thanks to diving catches by Murphy in the gully and Withers at slip.

With the home side six wickets down and the match all but won it was time to explore the murkier depths of our bowling resources – with the slightly unexpected result that the final four wickets fell within 16 deliveries.  You can learn things in these situations and we now know, for example, that Murphy can give it plenty of air and deceive batsmen into doing things they really don’t want to be doing.

From the other end Mike Ward’s first ball was dispatched for a maximum over long off but halfway through the over he had figures of 2-6.  Only a dropped catch denied Ward a third wicket later in the over but Murphy soon wrapped up the game with his second.  A comfortable win by 95 runs and the second week in a row we’ve bowled out the opposition.

RUASCC Highlight: It’s got to be Mike Ward on a hat-trick.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Karthee - didn’t get a bat, took a fearful smack on the knee fielding at short mid-wicket leaving him unable to bowl, then dropped a catch in the penultimate over of the day before leaving the ground without his coat.

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle (capt), Jas Singh, Zia, Murphy, Dip (wkt), Nadeem, Daman Singh, Karthee, Waqar, Withers