Frieth (A) – 24.8.14

Frieth 167 all out

Zia 6-42, Withers 2-11

RUASCC 168-2

Zia 115 not out, Ward 28 not out, Murphy 10

RUASCC won by 8 wickets

It can appear, on occasion, that he’s playing a different game to the rest of us – there is after all a reason he’s won Player of the Year four seasons in a row.

But this was a truly extraordinary performance.  Has anyone in the club’s history has ever taken six wickets and scored a century in the same match?  I’ve seen Zia take wickets before and I’ve seen him score runs before, but I have never seen a game so utterly dominated by one player.  I have never seen anyone treat reasonable bowling with such flagrant disregard.

Set 168 to win we reached our target in 22.3 overs, and this was not a batting track – it offered plenty for the bowlers with variable bounce and the cloud cover helping the ball move around.  We were 14-2 after left-armer Harry Williams had once again proved too good for our opening batsmen.

Zia simply negated any threat to his wicket by smashing everything slightly under or overpitched.  The more he smashed, the more the bowling played into his hands - there was one straight drive that Dr Ashman umpiring said he heard “fizzing” along the grass.  There were cuts, pulls and drives to every part of the boundary - it didn’t matter where the fielders went, the ball was hit somewhere else.

Several of the home side seemed to accept their fate before the drinks break - in the face of adversity reduced to laughter and bafflement at the onslaught they were witnessing.  Williams didn’t return after his initial five-over spell.  Zia passed fifty with his 11^th four and accelerated from there, reaching the 90s in his tenth over at the crease.  At the other end Michael Ward played the perfect captain’s innings, running quick singles and rotating the strike to allow Zia to impose himself on the bowling.

Another four brought up his hundred and a few overs later a push into the offside sealed victory by 8 wickets.  Zia’s unbeaten 115 included 21 fours and two sixes, and a quick check of the scorebook suggests he faced about 55 deliveries in total.

Earlier in the day, after Ward had won the toss and opted to field but lied to us and told us he’s lost the toss and pretended that we’d been asked to field, Withers struck in the first over to leave Frieth 0-1.  Withers then proceeded to send down 11 overs conceding just 11 runs, in case you needed further proof that conditions were helpful for bowlers.  In contrast Zia’s opening spell was, by his standards, distinctly average and he was replaced by Waqar as the second wicket stand added 94.  Zia returned to wreak havoc, clean bowling four of his victims on his way to his second six-wicket haul on this ground in three years.

Ashman was unlucky not to pick up a wicket as two clear chances were dropped, otherwise the bowling was well supported by two run outs, including a direct hit by Ward which was remarkable mostly because the fielder had only one stump to aim at but it wasn’t the one he actually hit.

This was RUASCC’s fourth consecutive victory and Ward continues his 100% winning record as skipper.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Oh do shut up.

RUASCC Team:  Murphy, D. Singh, Ward (capt), Zia, Karthee, Weeks (wkt), Waqar, Malde, Ashman, Stewart, Withers