2013 Match Report: Kings CC

Finally!

Kings CC Vs Pyestock CC

Sunday 16th June 2013

Weather Conditions: Drizzle early on, improving to sunshine.

Pitch Conditions: Wicket: Dry, Outfield: Green, uneven in places

Match Type: 40 Overs, bowling limits relaxed

 

17 Years, 13 defeats and 5 draws. Pyestock finally turned the tables on an admittedly weakened Kings side on Sunday to end the torment suffered by the Pyestock faithful over their longest serving and friendly opponents.

A day that started with traffic chaos and persistent drizzle ended with a fantastic and nail-biting finale in this low-scoring and nervy affair.

Fielding first, Pyestock’s fears were of an extremely lightweight bowling attack missing last week’s hero Ben Bromley from a side carrying the injured duo captain Neil Butler and Dan Heath. Thankfully, the good nature of the fixture won through and Kings CC kindly allowed the bowling regulations to be relaxed removing the need for a 5^th bowler from a Pyestock side stuggling to even find a fourth.

As it was Chris Heath and Billy Leader opened up the innings bowling to old adversary Joel Miah who partnered James Dart, and the early exchanges offered little in the way of excitement. It was a surprise therefore, to see Dart’s off stump removed from the ground by Billy as his away swing started to take effect.

The dangerous Paul  Nangle now joined Miah at the crease and between them began to rebuild after the early set back and batted sensibly by seeing off the dangerous deliveries, whilst regularly cashing in on the poorer balls.

The introduction of Jack Bromley, who incidentally was not even born the last time Pyestock tasted victory over their opponents, turned the match however as he removed Miah following a rare loose shot to the grateful hands of Glenn Taylor in the gully. From this point, the tide began to turn. The normally reliable Simon Pipe was bowled for just 2 to reduce the hosts to 71 for 3.

Pyestock turned to Dan Heath to aid the seamers who had shared 21 overs despite still recovering from his wrist injury, and the spinner, despite obviously struggling to control his line and length, picked up the wicket of Dave Wright in his third over.

Immediately Jack managed to find the edge of Nangle’s bat to the grateful hands of Neil Butler in slip. This catch proving a lot simpler than the horizontal diving attempt agonisingly put down by the captain a couple of overs before.

At 95 for 5 and 2 new batsmen at the crease, Pyestock had successfully battled themselves back into the game from a point where it seemed to be getting away from them. It was at this point where Kings’ trouble with unavailability came to prominence as the youngsters drafted in failed to consolidate against the positive bowling of Jack, Dan and later Billy.

Jack picked up his fourth wicket by bowling Dylan Patel who inexplicably left the ball as it took the top of off stump. Chris Heath then produced a one-handed catch to dismiss Carter as Billy took 2 wickets in 3 balls, as Harry Lee also found his timbers disturbed.

An LBW shout gave Billy his fourth wicket removing Tom Broad as a frantic spell saw the home side fall to 124 for 9. The last pairing of Steve Smith and T.Moore added resistance at the end before Smith fell to a towering catch taken by Chris McGovern. It was felt amongst the Pyestock ranks at tea that the target of 136 to win was very much achievable.

Jon Ford opened the Pyestock innings with his 3^rd different partner in as many weeks as Neil’s philosophy of a very equally talented batting line up continues to prove its worth, this time Jack Bromley took the mantle in seeing off openers Dylan Patel and Carter.

The innings started positively with 13 runs coming from the first 4 overs before Jack was caught from the bowling of Patel. This brought Glenn Taylor to the crease, who looked to attack the Kings bowling at every opportunity. Jon was happy to allow Glenn the freedom as the run rate began to really shift. Patel was taken for 22 runs in only 2 overs as the Pyestock number 3 allowed his side a firm grip on the match.

Passing 50 within 13 overs, allowed Neil Butlers side to choose the run scoring shots more carefully as Kings counter attacked by bringing Moore and the ever-tricky Simon Pipe into the attack. Moore lasted just 3 overs before Joel Miah belatedly made an entrance. Glenn initially took a liking to Miah with 3 boundaries coming from his first over, however it was Simon Pipe, who had spent a lot of time battling Jon Ford for bragging rights at the other end, who managed to dislodge the free-scoring Glenn. A smart catch saw him on his way for a wrenching 49.

Needing only 46 runs from 18.2 overs, you could forgive the visitors for believing that victory would be a formality, however it is rare that things are that simple in the world of Pyestock, especially when you throw in Kings CC and more specifiaccly the bowling talents of Simon Pipe and Joel Miah. The experienced pair upped their efforts significantly, and, backed up by their fielders, produced a brilliant joint spell to keep Jon ford and Vaughan Newcombe quiet. The run rate crept up slowly but surely as maiden overs became the norm. With only 10 runs scored in 7 overs it was clear something had to give. A scrambled single that was pushed into the off-side by Jon resulted in 4 needless overthrows to relieve a significant amount of pressure. Kick-starting the innings was crucial and it allowed Pyestock to climb to 122 by the 34^th over.

The real drama started as the match moved into its final stages. Vaughan was the third wicket to fall as he was caught trying to score quickly, meaning Pete Harris joined Jon at the crease.

Miah and Patel were now working well in tandem, however may have been guilty of attacking too hard rather than solely trying to keep the runs at a minimum. Jon was happy to eek out singles, while Pete, who looked uncomfortable against Miah, was bowled when it may have been wiser to prolong the difficulties experienced by the Pyestock number 5.

With the score now 134 for 4 Neil Butler came to the crease with 14 balls to score 2 runs. After seeing off the remainder of Miah’s over, the fourth ball of Patels 10^th over saw yet more drama. A scrambled run to bring the scores level proved suicidal as Jon fell well short and was run out for 52 from 119 balls, an excellent and major contribution to Pyestock’s position as favourites with 8 balls remaining.

As it proved with Neil on strike, a straight drive past the bowling of Patel confirmed victory for Pyestock and the end of a hoo-doo lasting 17 long years. After the last two encounters also finishing on a knife edge, it was deserved for Neil Butler’s side to come out on top.

Despite the celebrations, it was noted that an excellent game of cricket had just taken place with both sides, and it is hoped that the relationship between the two sides continues to flourish, hopefully with Kings’ more regular faces returning.

Kings CC 135 All Out

Pyestock CC 136 for 5 (J.Ford 52)

Pyestock CC win by 5 wickets

Pyestockcricketclub.co.uk Man of the Match: Jon Ford