Run Chase
24rd July 2011 v Grimsdyke CC at the Wilf Slack memorial ground Finchley – Grimsdyke 199/4 Grace’s 200/6 – won by 4 wickets.
A glorious Sunday afternoon saw us take the field against new opposition – the toss was won (again) and the oppo invited to bat. On a true surface wickets proved hard to come by and the first wicket didn’t fall until the score was 84. The second wasn’t until 143. Some sharp catching chances were not held and Grimsdyke continued to accumulate runs. Some controlled bowling over the last few overs saw the score contained to 199 for 4 off 40 overs. The highlight was a great piece of fielding at mid off by Richard B which resulted in a run out.
After tea Abhi opened and batted aggresively for a quick 28 before being bowled. Dom came in at 3 and patiently saw the good balls off. He and Neil put on 35 for the 3rd wicket before Neil fell LBW for 18. This brought Richard B to the wicket and he and Dom started to get their eye in putting bat to ball. A highly entertaining partnership saw the ball begin to disappear to all parts of the field as the batsman took a liking to the flat wicket.
Grimsdyke tried rotating the bowling but the partnership was well set with both batsmen accelerating into the 40s. Richard was first to 50 (off 46 deliveries) before being caught to a juggling catch in the deep. The 4th wicket put on 88 runs. Dom soon reached his 50 and carried on the destruction with support from Richard G.
A catch in the deep finally ended Dom’s personal best innings for 75 by which time he had carried Grace’s to the brink of victory. Hemang managed to get run out without facing a ball before Anosh hit the winning runs.
So a great confidence boosting win against evenly matched opposition. Grace’s batsmen will hope to come across a similar surface unlike the bowlers! It’s hoped to repeat the fixture next season