Noddy 113 and 5 wickets! Can we play!c
Match report – Alleyns Adhoc v Grace’s 17th May 2015 – won by 107 runs
A bright sunny afternoon saw Grace’s return to leafy and very posh Herne Hill to play Alleyns Adhoc at their lovely ground.
The toss was lost and Grace’s were inserted on a flat looking track – last season we were skittled out for 102 so the hosts were keen to restrict us again. Dom opened with Noddy against the 10 men of Alleyns and Noddy was soon building his innings with a mixture of solid defence and punishment of loose deliveries. Some lovely drives and pull shots saw Noddy start to dominate the bowling with sensible support from the skipper keeping the strike rotating. Noddy brought up his half century off 44 balls with only a half chance of a catch being offered in the way of errors. When Dom was caught for 17 in the 18th over the score was 87.
Stuart came in at 3 and played positively as ever with some well timed drives taking the score along nicely with Noddy. By this stage Alleyns were rotating the bowling (using 7 in the match lacking the depth in attack they had last season) However the partnership was set with the hosts doing a lot of ball chasing as both batsmen demonstrated great timing and aggression. Noddy reached a fine century (Kato, their captain, running in from the boundary to shake his hand typified the sporting air to the game) In the 29th over and was finally run out for 113 with the score at 181 for 2. He hit 19 fours in an elegant innings that was thoroughly enjoyed by his team.
Mendis came in at 4 and carried on the attack with a rapid 21. Stuart looked set for a 50 but played on for a quick fire 44 including the afternoon’s only 6. The middle order played positively in the last few overs – (Dean was out for what was perhaps a woody LBW!) and Niroshan, Newton and Scott took the total to a competitive 253 for 6.
A healthy tea was then taken (fruit no cake!) before Newton and Mamun opened the attack for Grace’s. Last week we dropped some catches and paid accordingly, today however , we found our catching skills once more as Newton took a well judged chance in the deep followed by Dean with a sharp diving catch at silly point followed by what may have been the pick by Stuart on the long off boundary to see off the dangerous looking Sarson. These 3 great catches (all off Mamun’s bowling) visibly lifted Grace’s and the hosts were now 23 for 3 in the ninth over.
Alleyns were now under the cosh and Grace’s bowlers kept up the pressure – Matthew and Mendis were the first change bowlers and made the batsmen work for runs. McClean and Peak showed fight with 16 and 21 respectively. However it was to be Noddy’s day as 5th bowler, bowling spin due to various injuries. He then proceeded to pick up 5 wickets for 16 runs with an accurate line and length. This took the hosts to 89 for 9 in the 29th over.
The last wicket pair then provided what is apparently Alleyn’s record last wicket partnership taking the score to 144 all out with an entertaining attacking display with Mr Dyson ,the number 8, finishing unbeaten on 39.
Both teams then retired to the well stocked bar to recover from their exertions and compare stories from the day. For Grace’s it was also a chance to enjoy Noddy’s jug for an amazing display of cricketing skills – the records will have to be scoured to see if a century and 5 wickets have featured in a Grace’s game previously – are you available next week!!
The 3 great catches also played a part in the win – Mamun finished with 3 for 39 bowled well and it was an enjoyable game against a very friendly and hospitable Alleyns Adhoc team.
Also a big thanks for our supporters who came along – especially the ever present Phil.
Colin kindly kept running notes during the match – here they are for your perusal;
Graces vs AdHoc Alleyns was an early start but batting first we had soon reached 100 for 1 at drinks interval 20 overs as Dominic had shortly been taken at 87 for 17 after a solid first wicket partnership with high scoring Noddy
Stuart’s first boundary had the opposition all scrambling to find it in the rough, well that was the excuse for all the fumbling anyway
– 144 off 25 and Noddy at 93
Stuart hit the only 6 in the match off the side of his bat
Noddy then reached his ton with a single midway through the 27th over
At this point it was realised that only 10 were on the field. Maybe one of their players was finding how poor the trains were.
Noddy was finally run out in the 29th over chasing a quick single but the opposition were sharp and sent a good shot to the wicket directly. A solid 113 (for the third time) all the same that shaped the match. An opposition bowler had congratulated him at his century.
Mendis now joined Stuart
And was soon off the mark but a fielder covered a lot of ground to prevent the boundary straightaway So he switched his strike to find an open boundary.
– 194 for 2 at 30
3 leg byes marked the 200 and some careless overthrowing
Now the opposition were losing heart and getting ragged
Stuart played a shot on but found he was bowled for 44 in the 32nd at 202 for 3
Newton joins Mendis but did not survive an over being caught at silly point with only a 4 under his belt
Dean now comes in with his left hand to shake them up
Credit to our team for providing both the umpires with many serving very long spells
– 209 for 4 at 33 overs
Mendis thought he was powering a boundary only to have silly mid on drop the shot In the 35th over
221 off 35 and now 6 players were guarding the boundary ropes to avoid the score escalating
Mendis was then lbw giving Niroshan a chance to shine
Dean was also lbw but questionably while on 4 some way down the wicket but as Stuart was main umpire we suspected a conspiracy to keep him as 2nd highest batter!!
– 223 for 5 at 36. Scott now in to play
One of the rewards for not carrying the bat is that Noddy then gets to keep score when Jonners is ready if needed along with Mamun and Matthew
234 after 38 and now the team are fielding quite close with only token outliers
Skelton now bowled more loosely for the last over and the 250 was notched with good strikes from Niroshan and an innings total of 253 for 6 in 2 and half hours and not out scores of 14 and 12 for Scott and Niroshan
From a fine start the sky was now clouding over and the wind was blowing more determinedly, hopefully we were not too sluggish after such a fine selection at tea and play restarted at 16:20 and the sun shone again somewhat.
Newton opened the bowling to Gray with a safe pitch and a dot.
With an appeal called next ball. Scott was a safe pair of hands in the gloves
They got off the mark with a single as fine fielding prevented the boundary though the opposition ran fast when the ball was being chased toward boundary
Mamun now bowled with most shots only played to close field
Newton got the first maiden of our side in the third over. I think Skelton got one for Ad Hoc in our innings.
With Newton picking up a fine catch of Gray off Mamun in the next over, 8 for 1, though as it goes the first boundary also came in the same over.
A second diving reflexive low catch by Dean despatched another so 13 for 2 in a successful 4th over
Newton now got surprised as a good hook got a leg boundary 18 for 2 on 5
Mamun took it to 22 with one boundary conceded
Newton plucked a second maiden making it hard for them to anchor in
A fine cover drive was made only to find Stuart stretching handsomely high near the boundary rope – 22 for 3 and a wicket maiden
Mendis now starts the bowling in at 9th over with a maiden but for one wide
Mamun was steady always hoping an appeal is given and after 10 it is 24 for 3
Until the next ball in the 11th it is bowled by Mendis and 24 for 4
And another over passes by for only one added
Matthew now takes the ball, first time in some 35 years and is tried out with a square leg boundary – 32 for 4 off 12
Mendis has yet another over with only one added
Matthew has a few wides and a shot not quite caught
Again Mendis has one drawn from a wide in the over – 40 for 4 off 14
Matthew had two boundaries when shots not stopped cleanly though it is never as simple as looked
50 off 15
Noddy now comes in to bowl in 16th
Slowly the score reached 60 for 4 at the drinks interval then Noddy struck Peak with clean bowling after a previous lbw call and 62 for 5 in 21
Jonners has replaced Scott as Wickie for this half
Noddy strikes with lbw on penultimate ball of 23rd and a strong call for next victim next ball. 70 for 6
Run rate required is well over 10
Noddy clean bowls the next in 27th over, 81 for 7 but on last ball 4 are scored on bye
Mamun comes back to bowl in 28th and they reach 88 for 7 off 28
Shortly it is caught and bowled for Noddy in 29th and 89 for 8. Last man probably in as they only had 10 playing in field
And then surely it was all over 89 and out with another clean bowl by Noddy but one more batsman so Mamun comes in to kill for the 30th But they finally edged their 100.
The tail end now dug in and with the help of too many boundary byes, surpassed their own club record for a 10th wicket partnership
Eventually as they started to only need a run rate of 40 plus, Mamun clean bowled the last man Skelton for 19 in the 37th over and it was 145 all out. A stunning victory of 108 runs that could have been easily 150 but there seemed no question that the match was won thanks to solid fielding, some good catches and a lot of quality bowling even without impressive batting. With a high run and wicket tally Man of Match is surely Noddy this time around but many individual performances served warning that this is not to be taken for granted.
An enjoyable afternoon with a side often welcoming and chance to join together in the bar later.