“Friendly Cup – Summary (Final)”
*
|
The
weather over the weekend of the final round of Friendly Cup matches was
abysmal, henceforth nobody actually played. The final was contested a
fortnight later with our neighbours Isis CC running out the eventual victors
over Ipsden CC (match report below). The MAD’s scheduled third / fourth place
match with Aldworth CC was never rearranged, although Skipper Timms did win a
coin toss over Simon Giles at the FC AGM held at the Bell Inn later in the
year. |
2017 Friendly Cup – Final Round Results
Isis
CC won by 2 wkts * The 2017 Season ended in style, when
Isis faced a spirited and determined Ipsden away from home and chased down a
very good score in difficult conditions to win the trophy. Not only did this
win mean that Isis have been cup-holders in three out of the last four
seasons (we let Oxon County Council borrow it in 2016), but it completes a
winning season in which Nick Wyatt succeeded in meeting his objective of
leading the side to win at least 54% of matches completed. It also saw him
deservedly achieve a personal objective of taking 50 wickets in the season
(well done Golden Arm). But unlike recent cup
wins, Isis certainly did not have this one all their own way, and Ipsden can
take consolation from a very good performance in which they probably had the
worst of the batting conditions and bowled well enough to eat into the Isis
tail to keep the result in the balance until nearly the end. The
weekend had seen rain throughout Saturday and into Sunday morning, and there
were showers promised among sunny intervals. The Ipsden ground staff had
clearly spent time and effort in the morning to prepare an uncovered wicket
that was obviously damp but flat and well cut. Charlie and the team, we
salute you. The toss was critical though, and for once Wyatt managed to get the
call right and obviously elected to field first. With Whiter and Wyatt
carrying injuries (Whiter knee, Wyatt nose), Jon Ponsford opened by running
up the hill, while Steve Cooper ran down, and the pair did well to restrict
the scoring to 33 for 0 after 10 overs, with cloths being used to dry the
ball throughout and sawdust protecting the landing area. The first bowling
change brought about the first wicket, when Whiter was driven down the ground
from his first ball and Ipsden attempted a quick single. Luke Blatchford
reacted quickest though, running in from mid-off to collect cleanly and just
as the desperate Alistair Veitch clattered into Whiter to make his ground,
the ball was sent to the other end where Kella gathered and removed the bails
to run out the dangerous Dave Wood. Meanwhile, Whiter was left prone with
further damage to an already sore knee, and by the end of that first over he
was walking in off of two paces and bowling his slower balls. Meanwhile,
Wyatt came down the hill and took the second wicket when Veitch tried to
drive to the cover boundary but was snaffled up by the energetic Blatchford
with the score on 42. With Charlie Cox at the non-strikers end, Chris Rudling made his presence felt by spanking Wyatt for 10
from 3 balls, which was enough for the captain to bring himself off after one
over to be replaced by Naveen Sankaravel. Meanwhile
Whiter found some rhythm, length and line to restrict the scoring while
Naveen bowled some magical balls from the other end. He was rewarded in his
fourth over when Cox tried to drive him through midwicket but played it a bit
late to draw the catch from the dependable Dave Penhallurick and had to leave
having scored 7 out of a stand of 36 runs. With the incoming Dan Houseman at
one end, Rudling was batting solidly at the other,
but somehow pulled a muscle in his side and was obviously in some discomfort.
The skies then opened in the 17th over, and the players left the field when a
deluge of rain fell in a short, sharp burst to interrupt play for about 15 mins.
When the players returned, the wicket had clearly absorbed a fair bit of
water and more sawdust was brought out to give the bowlers a chance of
standing up. Rudling made the restart, but at
drinks with the score on 79 he retired hurt on 30. First over back, Whiter
got one to nip back and climb first ball to the surprised Craig Lenane, out for a golden duck and Isis sensed they were
in the ascendancy. Poor old Naveen, without the aid of spikes, came a cropper
with the first ball of his next over, and having injured his shoulder in the
fall he asked Brad Harden to bowl the next five balls, and start a spell in
which he bowled the dangerous Jason Withers (12) who had looked to have made
a start. So, Ipsden were now five men down and one retired hurt with the
score on 105. In days gone by, Ipsden would have been just about down and out
by then, but Dan Houseman (74*) and the incoming Will Simpson (21) had other
ideas, and they mounted a stand of 87 before Steve Cooper replaced Harden at
the death to bowl the latter. Meanwhile, Whiter had bowled out, and the
skipper firstly turned to Mo Naqvi to try and buy a wicket, but who bore the
brunt of Houseman’s hard hitting, and then backed himself to complete the
bowling. At the turn it was Ipsden who looked the happiest, and a fine teas
was enjoyed by all, with the centrepiece being a fantastic bat-shaped
character cake bearing an iced legend to mark the occasion; well done to Anna
Cox and the ladies of Ipsden! And well done to Charlie Cox too, for
sportingly bringing the roller out to settle a wicket that was holding up but
that clearly bore the scars of 40 overs of cricket.
The Isis reply was
characterised by a number of Isis players getting themselves in but, through
determined bowling and fielding, getting out before really pushing on to big
scores. That is with the exception of Steve Cooper, who came in at 6 in the
21st over, and left carrying his bat 16 overs later with an unbeaten 76 to
his name. The innings started well enough, with Olly Walter (10) and Luke
Blatchford (27) putting on 34 in 10 overs before the former was bowled by
Jason Withers. The sun was now out, the pitch was drying and Ipsden were even
able to put away their cloths. Things took a turn for the worse for Isis when
Dave Penhallurick played on to a Craig Lenane
mystery ball one run later, to send Ravi Kella (26) in to the fray. The right
Ravi turned up, and he played some majestic shots to take the attack back to
Ipsden, while Luke Blatchford put one in the air to a Charlie Cox catch from
the bowling of Withers with the score on 59. The talented Jonathan Ponsford
strode out to the middle and these two batted on ‘till drinks taking the
score to 83 for 3. There was clearly still time if Isis could stem the flow
of wickets, but the break in concentration took its toll and Kella was out
caught to Will Simpson before the end of the next over, and Isis were 90 for
4. That brought in the big man Cooper, but before he could get himself set
Ipsden took another step forward when Jon Ponsford (23) also fell six runs
later. As Isis hopes began to fade all-rounder Brad Harden, the last of the
Isis batting strength, went in at 7 and he made a quick-fire 23 before holing
out to yet another Ipsden catch, leaving Isis in near-dire straits at 139 for
6 with 13 overs to go. By now the talented Dan Houseman was into the bowling
attack and he quickly removed Mo Naqvi LBW for 0, putting the writing on the
wall with 54 needed from 12 overs and three wickets remaining. The hobbling
Whiter then went in, knowing that he had to leave ASAP for an unavoidable
engagement, but he managed to hold up an end for five overs while Cooper
started to build a score, before having to throw the bat, get out and get
off. By then the score had risen to 159, and while Cooper stayed in Isis
remained in the hunt. Needless to say, skipper Wyatt managed to hold on to
his wicket for the few balls that he faced while Cooper started to crash the
ball to the boundary. Now, I was not there to see this of course, but the
scorebook shows the final Lenane and Houseman overs
to include two sixes apiece, and through Cooper’s excellent innings Isis had
managed to snatch a victory that had earlier seemed most unlikely, and with
three overs to spare. All credit to a strong
Ipsden side who batted, bowled and fielded very well throughout, and who
contributed cricket worthy of the final. Played in a sporting manner that is
synonymous with this fixture, Ipsden were a delightful opponent and excellent
hosts. Perhaps it’s fitting that the two sides face off again in the first
round of the 2018 competition, when I’m sure Ipsden will be going all out to
turn the tables. I end with a special thanks to Keith Ponsford and Alan East,
excellent as non-playing umpires throughout both innings and who did nothing
but add to a very enjoyable match. ‘Isis Hand’
|
||||||||||||
