Match Report: Porchfield (A)

Glenn’s Hurricane 91

Rips down the Porch!

 

Porchfield CC Vs Pyestock CC

Sunday 16th September 2012

Weather Conditions: Overcast, Cool.

Pitch Conditions: Wicket: dry, fast, Outfield: Green, fast.

 

Pyestock Players rose early on Sunday to embark on their longest away day of the season with a trip across the Solent to the Isle of Wight to renew acquaintances with Porchfield Cricket Club.

The 8:30 start was clearly too early for some, with Taylor Newcombe arriving in a bizarre red and white stripy “Onesie” to set the banter off at record breaking time. With Chris McGovern still receiving a grilling over last week’s dismissal from the team jokers, it looked like a long day for some. Despite this however, all set off in high spirits.

Arriving in Portsmouth ready for the ferry crossing, and meeting up with Jon Ford provided time for a quick coffee break before boarding and making the short journey over to Fishbourne. Most of this time was spent on deck taking in the views.

After arriving on the island and making the way to the ground, it was soon decided that Pyestock should do exactly what Pyestock did best, and so, without furtherado, headed straight to the pub!

Unfortunately only being 11:20, the landlord wasn’t quite ready to accept us, also the pub looked to be halfway though closing down. A few worried glances were exchanged as we realised it was the only pub in the area.

Unusually for the side, this gave Pyestock the chance to break out into an impromptu training session in the pub car park! After several dropped catches and retrieving the ball from underneath various cars, the landlord had probably seen enough and opened up. 2 rounds of Fosters later, the warm up was complete and we headed back to the ground.

 

Fielding first, Pyestock entered the arena with 12 players, soon to be 13 as agreed between the two captains to give all involved a game, meaning runs were hard to come by for openers Corbin and A.Leon as Neil Butler and Chris Heath found their rhythm.

Corbin was proving the most dangerous early on, manoeuvring the ball well around the field, and a few lusty blows from Leon allowed the score to progress well. In the 12^th over, however Chris produced a double blow by bowling both A.Leon and his replacement, son, T.Leon.

Porchfield stabilised well after this setback, Corbin continuing his fine form, now joined by Hooper, who after an early wobble, was starting to look confident. Neil rang the changes, bringing Billy Leader and Jack Bromley into the attack, the latter immediately announcing his arrival, ending the innings of Hooper after a smart catch by Jon Ford.

Corbin however continued his classy assault on the bowling, moving passed the half century as the home side themselves moved passed the 100 mark. With 7 wickets in hand, it looked like acceleration was just around the corner.

The 28^th over proved most fruitful for the hosts, adding 12 to the score as Corbin went on the attack against the unlucky Jack. Unfortunately for the man at the other end, Groves, his innings was halted by a peach from Billy in the next over, bowling the Porchfield number 5.

With that dismissal coming at the end of the over, and Jack withdrawn, the opening ball of Porchfield’s 5^th partnership was bowled by Mark Padwick and it started with drama. Corbin ticked the ball to fine leg and new batsmen Oliver set off, completing a single, however Corbin didn’t move and sent him back, by this time Billy had gathered the ball and making no mistake returned the ball to Mark at the bowlers end with Oliver stranded at the wrong end of the wicket. Defeated and looking to the skies, Oliver wouldn’t have believed his luck as the ball was not gathered cleanly by the Pyesotck bowler, instead ricocheting away from the stumps allowing the batsmen to regain his ground before mid-on Dan finally removed the bails.

It was a genuine missed opportunity for the away side as Porchfield re-gathered their composure and started to add vital late runs to their teams score. In the 34^th over, the moment Corbin had earned and had waited for, pushing Mark Padwick out to mid-on to complete his century.

There was still time for Taylor Newcombe (after thankfully swapping the “Onesie” for a pair of whites) to collect Pyestock’s 5^th wicket within her solitary over, a smart catch by Jack Bromley finally accounting for hero of the hour Corbin, departing for 102 only 2 balls before the close of the innings. Porchfield closed on an impressive 206 for 5.

Pyestock started their response in the worst possible fashion. The first over saw the opening pair of Jon Ford and Glenn Taylor facing the bowling of Groves with 10 slips making up the field. Despite this confident opening field positions, only a bye and a wide could be secured. Matters got worse in over 2, as Jon mistimed a drive straight into the grateful hands of Capon.

What followed however turned the game on its head and put the visitors in a strong position for taking something from the game. Glenn Taylor and Jack Bromley fought hard to overcome the early brightness of the Porchfield openers before devastatingly going on the attack when needed to add 101 runs for the second wicket.

 

Glenn led the way, scoring heavily off Walters as the scoring rate improved and as the match entered the final 20 overs Pyestock sat on 72 for 1, and looked to push on. 50 arrived for the Pyestock number 2 in only 45 balls, but soon after, partner Jack fell in the most unfortunate circumstances.

A half volley from Capon was driven powerfully and straight by Glenn, hitting Capon in his followthrough on the boot before deflecting onto the stumps, Jack short by a yard backing up. The youngster showed his frustration, but in truth there was nothing that could be done.

This fluke brought Vaughan Newcombe to the crease, however his innings lasted only 2 balls as a quicker delivery caught him off guard, only edging the ball through to the wicketkeeper.

At 107 for 3, Pyestock were now wobbling. Needing a further 100 runs from just under 16 overs, it needed further positive aggression to see Neil Butlers side stay in the hunt.

Luckily,next batsmen Paul Heath, originally only due to umpire provided a blistering display, to not only support Glenn Taylor, but more than matched him in a high scoring assault that saw the clubs highest career scorer take the Porchfield bowling apart.

He eventually holed out giving Sims his first and only wicket but 37 from only 25 balls was exactly what was needed as Pyestock now found themselves needing 44 from 59 balls.

Devastatingly, this period of play also saw the end of opener Glenn, playing defensively, the season’s top scorer got into a mess trying to deflect the ball away from the stumps, only managing to dislodge the bails with his foot. Falling just 9 runs short of his century, Glenn was applauded from the field.

Billy Leader and Neil Butler occupied the crease now, and looked solid, picking off the runs against the bowling of Sims and T.Leon, Billy in particular impressing after a period of poor form with the bat.

As the match progressed and the overs ticked down, the run rate stabilised and Pyestock started to look towards the victory. These plans were somewhat scuppered however as T.Leon bamboozled Neil Butler, who failed to connect with a big swing, over balancing and allowing the easiest of stumpings.

The laughter from the Pyestock contingent as the sight of their captain throwing himself off his feet with the power of the “air-shot” failed to mask the tension as the match entered its final stages. 6 overs remained and 24 runs were still needed.

 

Striding out to bat next, Dan Heath would have fancied his chances of becoming the hero, he succumbed however, mis-timing a lofted drive to W.Leon to give the 9 year old the biggest cheer of the day as the 9 year old clung on the catch of the match.

The flurry of wickets became a concern as although 13 a side meant that there were plenty of wickets in hand despite being 7 down, Pyestock’s run rate was started to suffer. This situation wasn’t helped by a run out 2 overs from the end seeing the end to Billy Leaders innings for an impressive 22.

Colin Butler and Chris McGovern now occupied the crease. The mission was simple. 11 balls, 12 runs. Everybody was glued to the action as Chris McGovern clipped a single before a 2 from Colin made it a run a ball. Sims was unable to contain batting as a big shot from Colin brought up 3 more runs. Chris then repeated the trick with 3 more.

So 3 runs were needed from the final over, and it only took 1 ball for Chris McGovern to lay down the ghosts of the last7 days as he swapped the reverse sweep for the more conventional paddle shot that brought up 4 runs and with it a Pyestock victory. It was a brilliant end to another match that went into the final over after similarly close matches against Crane, Bedhampton Mariners, Godalming and Peper Harow.

 

Another wonderful day was brought to a close with the traditional BBQ and beer as Pyestock toasted their first win on the island. The margin of 4 wickets warped somewhat by the larger playing squads. After saying our goodbyes, it was only the ferry and the pub left before returning home!

 

Porchfield CC 206 for 5 (A.Corbin 102)

Pyestock CC 208 for 8 (G.Taylor 91)

Pyestock CC win by 4 wickets (13-a-side match)

Images Courtesy of Taylor Newcombe