Report by Cam Petrie:
Given the amount of rain that fell right up to Saturday morning, there was some doubt that we would get a match for our "second leg" fixture against Comberton. We were well aware that Comberton rec lacks the covers that had made it possible for us to complete our tight victory last week, so it was going to be a no-brainer decision to "bowl first" for whoever won the toss.
Arriving just in time to be told that we were batting, Cam Petrie (22 off 34 balls) and Martin Prowse (4 off 42 balls) were soon marching out to face up, while the Comberton bowlers were busy spreading wood-shavings - typically seen inside small pet's cages – in the prospective foot marks. Martin and Cam made a measured start while trying to read the bowlers and the pitch, with the ball holding and getting added bounce for spice. Other than a thundering drive from Martin hit straight back to the bowler – who only ended up with a sore hand - the first 7 overs were extremely quiet, before Cam latched onto the first properly loose bowling to languidly loft a series of shots over the leg side field to the boundary. A few more boundaries followed off the first and second change bowlers before a healthy dose of pathos was served up, with Cam walking after missing another ball drifting down leg, only to have it ricochet off his thigh pad, onto the back of the back, and then lob gently to the ‘keeper.
Our 31 run opening partnership off 10 overs bode well, but belied the challenges of the conditions, and we soon went into free-fall, losing four more wickets in the next 6 overs for only 7 more runs (including the loss of 3 wickets while we were on 36, including AP draftee Naveed Butt). It was a mixed blessing when the looming clouds decided to dump a whole lot more rain on the rec, and everyone headed in for an early drink/tea/food break.
After waiting for an hour and 25 minutes for the rain to stop and the pitch to dry out, play resumed and the immediate impact of the rain was revealed when Adi Vaidyanathan had one rear and catch an edge to gully that was held. Our other AP draftee Sumit Sahai (5 off 19 balls) attempted to rebuild with Ollie Rex, but he also popped a catch that was held, and we were a dreary 57 for 6. This wicket brought Stephan van Eeden out to join Ollie, and we got the partnership that we needed to bring us into the realms of respectability and competitiveness. Initially watchful while Comberton's Patel brothers (neither of who played last week) finished their spells, Ollie and Stephan started to consolidate and accelerate against the fifth and sixth bowlers. Given their usual approach to batting, both showed admirable restraint, but it was only going to last so long, and they practiced a dot, dot, dot, single, four/six approach, launching half-volleys, full tosses and various other balls to and over the boundary at various points. Our potentially woeful 57 for 6 gradually became 132 for 6 before Stephan finally holed out in the 40th over for an excellent 36 off 44 balls. Ollie was now on strike and a quick tally of the scorecard showed that he was on 44*. He managed to get to 49* with a four and a single with three balls remaining, and aAlthough tempted to give it some, Huw Davies (1* off 2 balls) played safe and rotated the strike with one ball to go. Thankfully Ollie managed a single off the last ball to reach an innings saving 50* off 71 balls.
At the change of innings, it was clear that we had been "roughed up" well and truly by the Patel brothers, who had taken six of our seven wickets for a measly 43 runs, and D. Patel continued the bruising when he came out to open the batting. Although Stephan (1 for 40, off 6.3 overs) and Adi (1 for 13, off 8 overs) both started economically, D. Patel showed a liking for Stephan's pace and length and soon started teeing off, usually connecting with anything on a length. Andy (2 for 27, off 8 overs) was soon brought on to slow the pace (and the scoring), and while there were plenty of dots, anything remotely hittable continued to be belted as far as possible. Luckily there were plenty of grass clippings on the outfield and fitness issues with the batsmen, so there were plenty of dots and singles, but not much else from more grounded stroke play. Adi soon frustrated C. Cundell (our nemesis from last week) into a lofted catch to Martin, aligning the scores after 10 overs at 31 for 1. Andy soon after bowled the Comberton number 3, and then even more pace was taken off the ball as Faruk Kara (1 for 22, off 8 overs) was brought and immediately managed to float it in to land on a dime outside off stump. Andy started to get some stick, and in the quest to mix it up, Stephan was brought back on, but received even more stick, and was taken back off again. After drinks Faruk drew another lofted catch, to Stephan this time, and Andy opted for dual spin and brought on Sumit (3 for 29 off 6 overs). A lark in the outfield noted that D. Patel was "here for a good time and not a long time", and sure enough, he tried one lofted shot too many, and holed out to Ollie at mid-off, and he was followed by his brother in the same over, who holed out to Huw at mid-on.
With Comberton now at 88 for 5 off 25 overs, and their top order all back in the pavilion, the game was there for the winning, and was more so when Sumit drew another catch to Huw at mid-on in the 27th over, to bring Comberton to 92 for 6 (and Sumit to his third wicket). It was essential that we keep the pressure on and hold our nerve, but we leaked a few too many wides. Andy brought himself on and snaffled a plumb LBW, stalling Comberton on 108 for 7 in the 31st over. Faruk and Andy soon bowled out, and our options were diminishing as Comberton's eighth wicket pair frustrated us, though we did drop two ultimately critical chances, which was unfortunate as earlier our catching had been peerless. Stephan came on for one last sally and managed a breakthrough, trapping the number nine plumb in front (which was given with no hesitation by the umpire). With four runs to win and two wickets in hand, there was still a chance, but unfortunately the ‘keeper was up and the next ball too wide, and it scuttled away to the boundary for a complete anti-climax ending to what was in the end a frustrating, but entirely enjoyable match. There were a few abandoned and conceded games, and our seven points leaves us high up in the table for our return to Old Field next week to play NCI III.