Scorecard

Rowner v Portsmouth & Southsea Cricket Club 3rd XI on Sat 19 May 2018 at 13:00
Portsmouth & Southsea Cricket Club Won by 18 runs

Match report ROWNER 1ST V PORTSMOUTH & SOUTHSEA III

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL DIVISION 1

SATURDAY 19TH MAY 2018

Manny mauls Rowner in a titanic tussle at the Green


Rowner won the toss and put us in on a rough and brown track. With the sun beating down from a clear blue sky, Gary and DFS opened our innings. They showed great character and excellent technique in building a platform for us against a barrage of fast swing bowling on what proved to be a minefield of a track.

The partnership was broken in the 15th over, when Gary was triggered by the umpire for 18 with the score on 44. Gary was fuming as he trudged off the pitch with a red ball mark clearly visible on his trouser leg high above his pad. Rob Whitworth came in at three and knuckled down hard against the accurate bowling. Rob was unlucky to be run out for 10 from a direct hit in the 23rd over.

Manny was next in at the perfect time for him to attack the middle overs. Bergy was soon batting with him, when the impressive DFS was bowled for 29 by a jaffer of a delivery from the rapid King. We now had two new batsman both on nought and Rowner sensed an opportunity to make serious in roads into our batting.

The fast West Indian bowler King had his tail up and he was steaming in. Manny was up to the challenge and latched onto a rare loose delivery from King and sent the waist high full toss flashing over square leg for 6. King responded by firing down a brute of a delivery that whistled past the swaying Manny’s nose in true Caribbean fashion, (“Smell the leather mon”). It was a tremendous dual where neither of them was giving an inch. It was pure cricket theatre. Manny flashed the fourth ball over point for two and the last ball of King’s spell saw Manny driving hard at a full delivery, which King dived athletically at, full stretch and low down to his left and got close to pulling off an incredible catch.

Bergy was the next man out without troubling the scorers when he was trapped lbw by Williams. That brought Harrison to the crease batting at number 6. The off spin of Yar replaced King and he was getting the ball to rag sharply. Manny was unperturbed and put Yar to the sword. A thunderous straight 6 down the ground signalled his intent. It was followed up with a brutal cut through the covers that flashed into the boundary. Manny was raining down boundaries to all parts of the ground and he was like a Samurai warrior wielding his Kookaburra bat and cutting the bowling attack to shreds.

Harrison was calmness personified as he elegantly added to the carnage with some beautifully timed fours of his own. The game was beginning to get away from Rowner and Manny brought up his maiden half century for the club with a cut down to third man for another four. Manny added two more fours before his explosive innings came to an end, when he was caught in the deep attempting another six. Manny made 61 and his onslaught consisted of three sixes and nine fours. It was a match changing innings.

Harrison continued to keep the scoreboard moving and finished 28 not out. With the support of the lower order we closed our innings on a very competitive 187-8, especially on a pitch that was very up and down.

Connor and Romit opened our bowling attack and they both bowled superbly. They were regularly beating the outside edge and when the batsmen were able to get it off the square our fielding was exemplary. Connor was deprived of making the breakthrough when Bishop clearly nicked a catch to Tom and then unashamedly stood his ground, whilst we were all celebrating his downfall. The umpire was unmoved much to our disgust and astonishment.

Connor did finally get a wicket his bowling deserved, when Haines edged behind to Tom and this time the umpire sent the batsman on his way for 16. Rowner were labouring at 26-1 from 13 overs. Toby replaced Connor after he finished a superb spell of bowling with the incredible figures of 8 overs, 4 maidens, 1 wicket for 7 runs. Manny took over from the impressive Rohit at the other end.

It was time for Rowner to take some chances with the overs slipping away. Toby was bowling for the first time in over a year after knee surgery and he was building up a good head of steam. Darby was riding his luck against Toby as he was continuously beaten for pace when trying to drive. Unfortunately, the ball either dropped short or flew over our heads.

Manny got our second wicket when he pinned Bishop lbw for 14. As he was walking off, Tom told him, “You didn’t nick that one” and it tipped Bishop over the edge. You could see his eyes bulging out of his head under his grill and his mouth twisted angrily as a stream of obscenities poured out of his mouth.

Bowman the Rowner skipper joined Darby and they built a dangerous partnership of 40, before magic man Manny struck again. He bowled Darby around his legs with an outrageous delivery that swung a mile. Manny was bowling hoops and he clean bowled Smart for 7 to claim his third wicket.

Rowner were still clinging onto the match at 114-4 off 29 overs. Toby was the next to strike when the dangerous Bowman nicked behind for 23 to give Tom another catch behind the stumps. It proved to be Toby’s only wicket as he finished his spell of probing and hostile bowling. It was a great effort by him as he steamed in throughout his 8 overs.

Manny took his 4th wicket in his final over, when he trapped Williams lbw for 9. Manny had backed up his scintillating batting with a brilliant spell of swing bowling. We looked to be edging the game with Rowner 131 for 6 with 8 overs remaining.

It was down to Yar and King to salvage the match for Rowner as Harrison and Mohit took over the bowling. The new batsmen looked very accomplished and far too good to be coming in this low in the order. Harrison’s first over went for 11, even though every ball was on the spot. It only highlighted the ability of the men at the crease. Rowner were now very much in the game and after 33 overs they were 141 for 6.

Mohit showed a lot of courage to come on and bowl his leg spin with the game tipping in Rowner’s favour. With the field set and the tension building he moved in to bowl and flighted a perfectly pitched delivery, which Yar attempted to hit against the spin and to put away over mid-wicket. Yar got a thick leading edge and time stood still as the ball went high into the air. You could hear a pin drop as all eyes were on Harrison waiting at mid-wicket for the ball to drop from its orbit. Harrison took the catch comfortably and then he was mobbed by all of us.

The batsmen had crossed and so it was King who was on strike. He creamed the next two deliveries for successive fours and then took a single off the fourth ball to bring up the 150. That put Van Eden on strike, who blocked his first ball. The last delivery of the over was a long hop and Van Eden smashed it straight back at Mohit, who juggled the catch in his midriff, before screaming with joy when the ball was safety nestled in his hands. An eventful over ended with the home side on 150-8

from 34 overs. The game was on a knife edge, but all the time King was at the crease Rowner were still favourites to win.

Harrison bowled a fantastic 35th over that only went for 3 runs. 25 more runs required from 5 overs. Mohit started his second over and King pushed a firm two from it. The next ball he crashed through extra cover for 4. Two dot balls followed before a booming 6 straight down the ground put Rowner within touching distance.

At the start of the 36th over Rowner required 23 runs from 24 balls to win. King was 28 not out and we either had to keep him off strike or bowl them out to win the game. Paxton who was yet to face a ball was on strike as Harrison approached the wicket. Paxton sent a powerful drive down the ground and Toby made a lot of ground before diving to take the catch. Toby got his hands to the ball only for it to spill agonisingly to the ground. It was a tremendous effort, but Paxton chalked off another two from the asking rate. Paxton milked the next ball for a single to bring King on strike.

20 runs needed from 22 balls and we were willing Harrison to produce something special. Harrison rolled his fingers across the seam and sent down an off cutter that beat King and crashed into his stumps. The composure that Harrison was showing was unbelievable. It was like he had ice flowing through his veins. That swung the game back in our favour as Stancliffe took his guard with three balls remaining. Harrison cut him in half with a ball that jagged back sharply and they scrambled a single. 19 runs from 20 balls. Another dot ball followed. 19 runs from 19 balls and 1 wicket remaining. The last ball of the over and Harrison sent down a Yorker that went under Paxton’s defence and smashed into the stumps.

Queue pandemonium. We all charged towards Harrison and ended up as a mass of jumping bodies hugging and roaring wildly with delight. We had won a pulsating match by 1 wicket. What a win! What a team!

It had taken a herculean team effort to beat a strong Rowner side in their own backyard. A Rowner side who I would be very surprised if they did not win most of their matches this season. Everyone played their part in securing this victory.

Gary, DFS and Rob had laid the foundation for Manny to play his match winning knock. Harrison carried on the stroke play and the tail produced some valuable runs. Connor and Romit gave nothing away first up with the ball and built the pressure. Connor’s figures of 8 overs, 4 maidens, 1 wicket for 7 runs was sensational. Magic man Manny ripped the batting to shreds with 4-42 and Toby ran in tirelessly and was desperately unlucky to finish up with only the 1 wicket. Mohit showed tremendous courage to bowl at the business end and he bagged 2 vital wickets. Harrison completed a memorable match for himself by getting the big wicket of King to prevent Rowner winning and then finished the job off by bowling Paxton.

The fielding was heroic with players literally putting their bodies on the line to prevent us conceding any runs. Manny was particularly impressive and there was no greater example of our commitment than that of Rob fielding at third man. He left the field like a soldier returning from the front line. His trousers and shirt were splattered with blood from where he was sliding and diving to stop crucial runs.

I am immensely proud of all the players and it is the best team performance I have ever been involved with. I am absolutely buzzing for our next game at home to Salthill this Saturday. Let’s get another big win under our belts. Well done lads! Up the Mighty 3rd’s! Bring it on!!


MAN OF THE MATCH

MANNY FERRIERA 61 RUNS; 4-42


CHAMPAGNE MOMENT

HARRISON WHITWORTH BOWLING OUT KING

Portsmouth & Southsea Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
187		        
Gary Williams Lbw  18 3
Dan Fry-Sperring Bowled  29 4
Robert Whitworth Run out  10 2
Manuel Ferreira Caught  61 9 3
Mike Berg Lbw  0
Harrison Whitworth Not Out  28 4
Tom Collett Bowled  3
Mohit Patel Caught  4 1
Toby Bullen Not Out  5 1
Romit Patel  
Connor Saunders  

Rowner Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Rowner Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
169 (37.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Portsmouth & Southsea Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Connor Saunders8.04717.000.87
Romit Patel8.023300.004.13
Toby Bullen8.0143143.005.37
Manuel Ferreira8.0042410.505.25
Harrison Whitworth3.001728.505.67
Mohit Patel2.0021210.5010.50