Tom Woods blasted 78 off only 42 balls to provide the perfect platform for a resounding victory for the Feisty Fifths over the British Club at Turf City on Sunday.
The Fifths were asked to bat with the ground still bathed in early morning dew, Spainy later admitting that if he would have won the toss he would have also inserted the opposition. If the British Club thought that the early morning moisture would make it difficult for the batsmen to score, they were mistaken. Tom and Mark got the Fifths off to a flier, putting on 128 for the first wicket, before Tom was smartly stumped for 78. His innings consisted of nine four's and three sixes. Their partnership flourished despite much sledging from their team mates on the sidelines. Appeals were heard from their fellow ANZA players anxious that they might miss out on their opportunity to hit some easy runs; they needn't have bothered.
Once the first wicket fell, others quickly followed. 128-1 soon became 156-5, as Geoff (4), Mark (42), Robert (3) and Jodie (8) all departed in quick succession. Spainy (5) and Josh (19) put up a little resistance, managing 20 for the sixth wicket amd taking the total to 176. Paul made 10 and was one of only five batsmen that made double figures. Josh and Jim (8) got the total over 200, but the second highest partnership of the day came from the last two batsmen Lawrence (23*) and John (8*), who put on 27. Fortunately the Fifths maintained a healthy run-rate throughout, leaving the British Club facing a daunting 239 to win.
They needed to get a off to good start but they never found themselves in the hunt.
Captain Spainy and Lawrence opened the bowling and the British club found the going tough. Geoff took a blinder of a catch with his legs off Lawrence for the first dismissal. Spainy then bowled the other opener with a leg cutter leaving the British Club on 32-2. This brought Chris Pardey to the crease, clearly anxious to get the scoreboard moving and did so with a couple of good boundaries. Paul took a great catch at mid-off off Jim to dismiss White (15). Ali (0) didn't last much longer, being run-out smartly by Mark in a race to the bowler's end from mid-wicket. The British Club were struggling at 62-4. Prakash who had taken 3 wickets during ANZA's innings came in and with his repertoire of only one shot managed to strike three fours before walking across his crease andbeing trapped in front by Jim. By now the British club's required rate was well over 10 runs an over and despite Chris Pardey and Andy Watson putting on 53 for the sixth partnership they were struggling to hit the boundaries they needed. John got Pardey (64) out lbw and was unlucky not to pick up another wicket when Jim took a one handed catch on the deep mid-wicket boundary, only to throw the ball back as he started to fall back over the rope. Lawrence picked up the seventh wicket as the British Club tried to get an additional point by making 180. Their skipper Andy Watson remained unbeaten on 28 off 32 balls, but the British Club finished well behind at 176-7, also failing to get that extra point - will that come to haunt them in the future? ANZA's 62 run victory was well deserved.
Special thanks to Geoff who was conned into packing the kit. I suspect that will be the last time that he'll take his team mates word for it that he was the lowest scoring batsman.
ANZA V 238 - 9
Tom 78 off 42 (9x 4's, 3x 6's)
Mark 42 off 45 (3 x 4's)
Lawrence 23* off 30
British Club 176-7
Lawrence 6-0-2-26
Jim 6-1-2-32
Spainy 6-0-1-35
By James Howlett
The Fifths were asked to bat with the ground still bathed in early morning dew, Spainy later admitting that if he would have won the toss he would have also inserted the opposition. If the British Club thought that the early morning moisture would make it difficult for the batsmen to score, they were mistaken. Tom and Mark got the Fifths off to a flier, putting on 128 for the first wicket, before Tom was smartly stumped for 78. His innings consisted of nine four's and three sixes. Their partnership flourished despite much sledging from their team mates on the sidelines. Appeals were heard from their fellow ANZA players anxious that they might miss out on their opportunity to hit some easy runs; they needn't have bothered.
Once the first wicket fell, others quickly followed. 128-1 soon became 156-5, as Geoff (4), Mark (42), Robert (3) and Jodie (8) all departed in quick succession. Spainy (5) and Josh (19) put up a little resistance, managing 20 for the sixth wicket amd taking the total to 176. Paul made 10 and was one of only five batsmen that made double figures. Josh and Jim (8) got the total over 200, but the second highest partnership of the day came from the last two batsmen Lawrence (23*) and John (8*), who put on 27. Fortunately the Fifths maintained a healthy run-rate throughout, leaving the British Club facing a daunting 239 to win.
They needed to get a off to good start but they never found themselves in the hunt.
Captain Spainy and Lawrence opened the bowling and the British club found the going tough. Geoff took a blinder of a catch with his legs off Lawrence for the first dismissal. Spainy then bowled the other opener with a leg cutter leaving the British Club on 32-2. This brought Chris Pardey to the crease, clearly anxious to get the scoreboard moving and did so with a couple of good boundaries. Paul took a great catch at mid-off off Jim to dismiss White (15). Ali (0) didn't last much longer, being run-out smartly by Mark in a race to the bowler's end from mid-wicket. The British Club were struggling at 62-4. Prakash who had taken 3 wickets during ANZA's innings came in and with his repertoire of only one shot managed to strike three fours before walking across his crease andbeing trapped in front by Jim. By now the British club's required rate was well over 10 runs an over and despite Chris Pardey and Andy Watson putting on 53 for the sixth partnership they were struggling to hit the boundaries they needed. John got Pardey (64) out lbw and was unlucky not to pick up another wicket when Jim took a one handed catch on the deep mid-wicket boundary, only to throw the ball back as he started to fall back over the rope. Lawrence picked up the seventh wicket as the British Club tried to get an additional point by making 180. Their skipper Andy Watson remained unbeaten on 28 off 32 balls, but the British Club finished well behind at 176-7, also failing to get that extra point - will that come to haunt them in the future? ANZA's 62 run victory was well deserved.
Special thanks to Geoff who was conned into packing the kit. I suspect that will be the last time that he'll take his team mates word for it that he was the lowest scoring batsman.
ANZA V 238 - 9
Tom 78 off 42 (9x 4's, 3x 6's)
Mark 42 off 45 (3 x 4's)
Lawrence 23* off 30
British Club 176-7
Lawrence 6-0-2-26
Jim 6-1-2-32
Spainy 6-0-1-35
By James Howlett
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