RUASCC 156 all out (25.3 overs)
Zia 103, (Extras 18), Binod 17, Weeks 12
Whitchurch 117 all out (35.4 overs)
Withers 4-20, Saad 3-13, Binod
2-13
RUASCC won by 39 runs
This was my first visit to
Whitchurch-upon-Thames, a lovely little village with a 40p toll bridge from
Pangbourne and a long, thin cricket pitch on the green. It’s the ground where Chan famously got
knocked out while keeping wicket in 2013 so there was plenty for this fixture to
live up to, and it turned out to be one of the strangest games of cricket I’ve
ever been involved in.
Limited overs again, and it
started in all too familiar fashion: Eagle won the toss and chose to bat first
but was out second ball, caught by a gully who was only placed there after they
saw how he tried to play the first ball.
It soon became clear this was just a tactic to get Zia and Binod batting
together again as soon as possible and the pair repaid their captain’s faith by
bludgeoning 62 runs in just five overs before Binod was caught at mid-wicket.
Zia was in dominant form and
quickly recorded a second consecutive fifty (off about 20 balls) making use of
the short boundaries square on either side, while at the other end wickets
began to fall at an alarming rate. Green
was caught at square leg for a duck, Greenhalf hit one six before being bowled
for six, and Weeks continued his positive intent from last week before dragging
on for 12.
It was like watching cricket on fast-forward
- the sheer contrast of watching Zia destroy the bowling while the bowlers
picked off everyone else made it difficult to tell who was genuinely on
top. From 117-5 Zia took the score to
156 with support provided by Varun (0), Main (0), Saad (0), Sayed (0) and
Withers (0 not out). In all seven RUASCC
batsmen failed to score but Withers hung around long enough to allow Zia to hit
the two boundaries he needed to reach his century in the 24th over. Next over he was caught behind and we were in
for tea an hour early.
And a lovely tea it was, sadly
not to be enjoyed at all by those fasting for Ramadan and taken only in
moderation by those preparing to open the bowling. The home side, needing less than four an over
on a decent pitch with short boundaries, had plenty of reason to be confident,
and both openers clubbed Withers straight back over his head early on in the
run chase.
Saad, bowling off a shorter
run-up but still with plenty of menace, picked up the first wicket before Withers
went on the rampage and took out the rest of the top order. He was aided by his first two victims both playing
rather injudicious shots to straight deliveries, but the third was merely patting
one back down the wicket and couldn’t have expected the bowler’s spectacular
diving one-handed catch that sealed his fate.
To be fair no one in the RUASCC team was expecting it either.
Next up were two younger kids and
Saad proved too good for both of them, and at the end of an exhilarating
passage of play Whitchurch were 35-7 when Main took a good catch at mid-off to
give Withers his fourth wicket. It then
became apparent that there had been an element of tinkering with the batting
order because despite the best efforts of Main and Zia the next partnership stayed
together for 20 overs and took the home side to within 50 runs of the target
needing about a run a ball.
The first hint of a chance came
when Withers dived full length at wide mid-on and only got finger tips to the
ball, but just in the nick of time Zia prevailed and found a glove through to
the keeper. The outgoing batsman, who
had somehow made it to fifty despite playing exclusively pre-meditated paddles
to fine leg, insisted it was off the hip but both umpires disagreed and that
was the game. Binod bowled beautifully
to take the last two wickets and seal the win by 39 runs.
RUASCC Highlight: I’ve been
given express permission to say it was Withers’ catch off his own bowling.
RUASCC Man of the Match: I’m
going out on a limb and saying probably Zia.
Any complaints should be directed to the usual address.
