Unley Cricket Club

C Grade Report Round 8 (27 January 2007) Unley v Hectorville

- S. Safralidis

Well, the C1's were up against Hectorville in a limited overs match, due to the rain on the previous weekend.

Party had made 4 changes to the winning team from the week before, with Lards, Chad, Junior and Rutter out, for Myers, Odds, Beachy and myself (Saf).

Both me and Pete Myers had played here 2 weeks ago & our advise to Party was to Bat first (as the pitch crumbled to dust by the 2nd innings)... It was therefore a surprise when we heard the Hectorville captain had sent us in to bat... PHEW!

We opened up with Murph and Harry Garris (sounds good doesn't it).. Garry smacked a beautiful 4, before leaving a ball a foot outside off... which jagged back - bowled, Odds came in & he and Murph both looked good, Murph went for 13 & Benny came in and made his intentions clear. Laurie Marshall then came & went, going for a suicidal 3rd run (which he almost made) and Tony came in. Benny went for 16, but Tuffers Cohen then came to the crease & Tony & Cohen both batted really well. When they were dismissed for 25 & 26 respectively the rest of us fell away, leaving Beachy unbeaten on 9.

In the end the score was only 128, but the signs were there that the pitch wasn’t going to be easy to play on, with most balls staying low & the occasional one popping up.

Pete 'Austin Powers' Myers opened the bowling with myself & while I was bowling pies at one end, Pete was bowling a fine spell at the other. Soon Beachy was into the attack, and if you didn’t look at him from side on, you'd have thought he'd never left for a year in the sun, as he bowled with fine control.

Lee Cohen came on from the other end and soon the runs had dried up. At this point I have to add that the fielding had been top notch, all the boys (Murph, Tony, Laurie, Party - yes you are boys too) throwing themselves around in the field.

Lee's spell in particular was exceptional, gaining turn and bounce he finished with 2/20 off his 9 overs. During this time Beachy had a spell at the other end & Tony 'the silver fox' Fiore came on, he (as always) bowled a great line, and while Hectorville had only lost 3 wickets, they slowly slipped behind the run rate. Benny was given an over, and unfortunately went for 12, as we dropped a catch and a ball spun past the outfield for 4.

At the time Lee finished his spell, there were 4 overs to be bowled, and chasing 129 to win I think Hectorville were 3/105 - GAME ON.

Beachy had 1 over to be bowled & immediately struck, at the end of his over (he finished with 2/22 off 9), there were about 16 required, 6 wickets in hand, 18 balls... Tony bowled & Dropped catch in the outfield, 2 runs, dot, 4, WICKET!, 12 needed off 14, 5 in hand.. Tony bowls... WICKET! Bowled!, 12 off 13, 4 in hand. Hat-trick ball... Anti climactic... dot.

Then it gets hairy... 2 overs to go, Cohen & Beachy have bowled their spells... Tony to bowl the last over... Party throws the ball to me... (remember I'd bowled pies in the first over)... I was sh1tting bricks... Well, I think they scored 5, I also gave them a wide and a no ball, and somewhere in there a fella skied one to Benny at mid on...

Tony to bowl the last over 6 balls, 5 runs, 3 wickets in hand... I think the over went dot, 2, 1, dot (at this stage 1 to tie, 2 to win), WICKET (Bowled again), WICKET (Bowled again)... 1 ball, 1 to tie, 2 to win, 1 wicket... Much discussion about field places, we decide on the status quo... Tony bowls, the number 11 pushes it down the pitch and they run... Tony swoops on the ball like an eagle on it's prey, collects the ball, turns and flicks the bails offf... WIN WIN WIN... the next minute or so is a blur, but needless to say there was much hugging, jumping & giggling along the way... WOW... What a game...

And all of a sudden we're a chance of making the finals...
Just wanted to add, super bowling & fielding effort by the boys, Props to Odds and Benny in the field and respec' to Lee, Beacy, Pete and the irrepresible Tony with the ball.

Funny game this one...

ss

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