Shalford CC v St. James CC

10th May 2008

.

210-4 Shalford 209-5 St James CC

Match Drawn

R Pierson  18 ct  4-0-22-0

A Woolley 21 ro

J.Stretton 87 3-0-18-0
J Smith 29 ct 7-1-17-1 
J.Kleinveldt  15 b 10-0-29-1 

K.Jasavala 2 no

D Smith   5 no 3-0-41-1
S Smith dnb 4-0-18-0 

R.Bush dnb 6-0-42-0

C.Woolley dnb

D.Love dnb 3-0-18-1

After a glorious week of sunshine we all headed down to Shalford and enjoyed
another fine day in the sun.
A big thank you was extended to Jonathen Kleinveldt and Darren Love for stepping into the breach to give us 11 men for the day.
 
With a somewhat untested team, St James’ adopted motto of ‘Cricket being a dramatic spectacle,
 deserving its place with the Theatre and dance,’ was about to confirm its place in the club ethos
 St James won the toss and the captains chose to bowl. The
Shalford openers lofted the ball from the start and avoided the fielders although maybe an adjustment
 in the attack formation might have yielded some catches and
on a batsmans wicket Robin was hit hard by his fourth over. Jack stuck at it and took the first
wicket caught and bowled (His second in consecutive weeks …watch this space!!).
 John Kleinveldt then bowled an immaculate spell of
away swing and removed the other opener, bowled. Johnno also did his part,in addition to 
keeping the batsmen contained with his exemplary fielding on the boundary. 
 
Richard and debutant Darren Love took up the bowling and Shalford continued to
attack. Their number four Dawkins was dropped twice, once each off Richard and
Darren as he made a confident 87. Stan bowled an impressively tight four overs
Which was no mean feat on what was clearly appearing to be a batmans wicket but with the batsmen hitting out the Dave suffered a few big hits.
 He did manage to break the partnership though getting Drake to sky one very high to Robin at long on to earn him a place on the champagne page.
However it meant that at tea Shalford had a total they were prepared to declare on 
 
Two Shalford batsmen walked during their innings which was wonderful to see and
is one of the reasons why we like playing them so much and helps to make the game such an honourable activity.
 
A total of 210-4 off 40 overs seemed a bit too much for an untried St James batting line-up
Coupled with an outfield that slowed up the ball considerably. 
But we had much to think about as we tucked into the usual Shalford’s delicious tea the captains with furrowed brows. 
 
Robin and Andrew cautiously set off in pursuit of the target by trying to keep out the
Shalford openers and take singles when possible. They got on top of the bowlers
well but the lack of pace on the ball and the slow outfield restricted them to
1s and 2s. They ran all of their 43 runs (in 15 overs) until legs began to solidify ,
to give St James a solid start before Robin was caught at mid off.
 
Johnno joined Andrew and wisely didn’t respond to a risky looking single which left
Andrew stranded on 21. This however allowed a fresh pair of young legs to further his batting experience
The Shalford spinners kept pitching short and Johnno
took full advantage, finding the boundary several times to get the score moving and threaten the Shalford total.
He was ably supported by Jack who found his feet quickly and hit five impressive
boundaries in between the singles. In the sapping heat Johnno impressively kept finding the
boundary and putting the pressure on Shalford as we began the last 20 overs at
65-2 and reached the last 10 at 134-2. 
 
Vorster the one Shalford quick bowler returned and gave Johnno his first
drivable ball and was lofted over the long on boundary for his trouble. That
shot took Johnno to his 50 and the next ball was beautifully whipped over mid
wicket for another six. The momentum was shifting our way though the run rate
required was still at 7 or 8 an over. Jack finally fell for 29 from a stunning
caught and bowled by Waugh. He and Johnno put on 121 in an hour. 
 
With Johnno tiring John Kleinveldt was the ideal new batsmen as his power and
timing kept things moving and his invaluable 15 kept us in the hunt as we
reached 201-4 in the penultimate over. Johnno then followed for a magnificent 87
leaving us needing ten to win off the last over with new batsmen Kerman and Dave
at the crease. Despite their best efforts we needed three off the last ball and
could only get one. So we finished 209 for 5 off 40 overs. 
 
Great efforts had been made and the contribution of the non youngsters in the sapping heat should not be forgotten
Everyone seemed thrilled to have been part of such an exciting game and Johnno was ,
Unanimously, voted for as man of the match and his two sixes as a
potential champagne moment. All stayed long afterwards outside the pavilion
enjoying the after effects of a dramatic afternoon and considering their contributions to a definitely dramatic occasion. 
 
St James enjoyed good family support again which was much appreciated.