Scorecard

Tewin v St Albans Cricket Club 2XI on Sat 08 May 2021 at 12 noon
St Albans Cricket Club Won 2 runs

Match report Upon arriving at the sodden Tewin ground for the start of the 2021 league season, with the meet and start time already delayed, the feeling amongst the 2s players was mutual - what exactly are we doing here?
The weather condition was bleak, and the forecast for the day was no better. However, the sight of the mower and heavy roller appearing from the Tewin clubhouse sheds to do their rounds on the wicket forced some of the 2s players to doubt the necessity of their provisionally made afternoon plans, and to regret their playing of a ‘rain card’ the night previous.

With the game due to start at 13:15, and a reduced overs quota of 39 overs per side, skipper Jimmy strolled back from the toss with the news we would be batting first.

Zach and Alisdair made a steady start against the Tewin quicks who bowled tight lines and lengths in the opening stages, making the ball talk off the pitch. Zach was unfortunate to fall victim to a one handed diving catch at gully, departing for 5, and bringing the in-form Ash to the crease. Both the St Albans batsman continued in steady fashion, each reaching double figures before the running out of Alisdair brought the partnership to an end.

For a period, wickets then began to fell regularly for the 2s. Ash was bowled, contributing 14, and Jimmy fell caught and bowled after pulling out of his shot. Stuart and Sam came and went, and the score for the 2s was poised at an unpromising 53-6 halfway through their allotted 39 overs. It appeared that the oppositions keen effort to force a game was going to pay off, and the 2s were in need of a hero to turn the tide and get us up to defendable total.

Up step, Adam Murphy. Coming in at 8, and initially making a good start with Amit, despatching his first ball to the boundary and rotating the strike well thereafter. The scoreboard was now ticking for the 2s, and following Amit’s dismissal and O’Toole’s arrival to partner Adam, it continued to motor on.
Through the focus and determined batting of Murph and Tooley, they clawed St Albans back into the game, and as the total climbed past 100 and beyond, hope amongst the onlooking 2s side and St Albans spectators grew ever larger.

A pair of what later would prove extremely costly misfields on the boundary for Tewin, who up to that point had been excellent in the field, propelled Murph close to his maiden half century for the club. However, needing 2 off the last he could only force 1 and was stranded on 49*. Nevertheless, he and Tooley justly received a raucous reception off the field of play, with the final total of 155 largely consisting of their partnership.

Now with a decent total to defend, the 2s knew that a quick start with the ball in hand would be key in their hopes of claiming victory.
Opening bowler Dan Baylis duly obliged, and castled their opener 3 balls into the innings - his pace proving too much to deal with.
St Albans now had their tails up, but bowlers Dan and Tom were unable to make further breakthroughs in their opening spells.

The Tewin #2 and #3 then settled in and put on a relatively quick 59 runs, pouncing on the wide balls and hitting 2 sixes in quick succession to put the pressure back on St Albans. Their fast growing partnership needed to be broken quickly if the 2s were going to stay in the game, and fresh from his batting exploits, Tooley did just that upon his introduction to the attack.
A few overs later at the other end, Amit was rewarded for his probing lines and claimed their captain, with Jimmy taking a good catch after a fine tickle through to his gloves behind the stumps. A quick fire decision to place Adam in at 1st slip for the newly arriving batsman immediately paid dividends, as Amit and the 2s had 2 in 2 following a sprawling one handed grab by Adam. Tewin were now 81-4 (16), and the momentum was back with St Albans.

Murph then assumed responsibilities with the ball at the other end, and 3 overs into his spell he claimed the big wicket of their #3 LBW who had been going well on 41. The score lay in the balance at 98-5 (21), and it looked to be heading down to the wire.
Tooley was re-introduced and claimed another wicket, as did Dan Baylis - bouncing out their handy looking #7. 129-7 was now the score, and Tewin required 27 more runs to complete their victory. The game lie on a knife edge, and following a huge over from the Tewin tail in which 13 runs were scored - all hope seemed lost. The St Albans contingent on the sidelines commenced their departure thinking it was all over, as the score reached 153-7 - Tewin requiring 3 runs for the win with 3 wickets in hand and a comfortable amount of overs to complete what looked an inevitable victory.

As the bags of the supporters hit the boot and the bums hit the car seats, a faint roar erupted from the middle. Skipper Jimmy with some excellent bit of glove work, had claimed a stumping off the bowling of Tom Broxton, timing the removal of the bails just right as the batsman’s foot lifted from the safety of his crease.

153-8...

The 2s and Tom Broxton ploughed on, knowing that another wicket would put an unholy amount of pressure on the Tewin tail.
Sure enough, a few balls later their #10 found Dan Baylis at square leg who took an excellent catch. The roar from the 2s side was even louder than the last, and the spectators had retaken their positions on the sidelines in hopes of watching a cricketing miracle unfold.

153-9...

In a matter of minutes the game had been completely flipped on it’s head thanks to an outstanding double wicket maiden over from Tom, and the 2s now had a sniff at snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Who else, but Adam Murphy, to bowl the next over? With men surrounding the bat, it would have appeared that the golden chance had been spurned 2 balls in, with their #11 chipping it up into the air agonisingly short of the diving Tom Broxton at short cover.
However, 2 balls later that would all be forgotten, as Murph hit the front pad of the Tewin batsman and the resulting vigorous appeals ringing through the ground were met with a raised finger from the umpire. When it’s your day, it’s your day.

The astounding victory and on field celebrations will live long in the memory of everyone in the 2s. The 30 points gained in the push for promotion this year, where all but one other game in Division 5A was rained off could prove a significant advantage.

St Albans Cricket Club 2XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 5w 4b 10lb 
for 7 wickets
21
155		        
Zach West Caught  5
Alisdair Sargen Run out  13 1
Ashish Dean Bowled  14 2
James Rosson Caught  11 2 1 1
Amit Rajani Caught  6
Stuart Murray Caught  0
Sam Davey Caught  0
Richard O'Toole Not Out  36 5
Adam Murphy Not Out  49 4
Thomas Broxton  
Dan Baylis  

Tewin Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Tewin Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 13w 1b  
for 10 wickets
15
153 (37.4 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

St Albans Cricket Club 2XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Dan Baylis8.0133216.504.13
Thomas Broxton7.021728.502.43
Amit Rajani8.0038219.004.75
Richard O'Toole7.0038219.005.43
Adam Murphy7.4027213.503.52