MATCH REPORT by Tom Bloor

The Horizontals entertained their old rivals the Sundown Specials in an exciting home match on a glorious day in early June. Richard Burgess, skippering the Horizontals, lost the toss and was invited to bat. In a good all-round batting performance Chris Wilcock, Amit Shanker and Bernard George stood out in particular, as did Matt Webster, whose brutal batting at with the tail-end of the innings kept the pressure on the bowling side to the end. He was last man out with the total on 199 and only a few minutes left until the scheduled tea break.

After tea the Horizontals took to the field. Two fantastic catches early in the innings gave the home team hope of achieving a rare second victory for the season over the Sundowners. Chris, keeping wicket, bagged a truly breathtaking catch, diving to his left at full stretch. And Barry lived up to his reputation as the Horizontals best catcher when he held on to a very sharp chance at slip. The Sundowners’ batsmen were unable to establish any dominating partnerships. With too many wickets down and not enough runs on the board, the draw rather than the win soon became the realistic aim of the batting side. With a substantial target behind them, the Horizontal’s skipper and his bowlers could afford the luxury of employing tactics and experimentation in their efforts to winkle out their opponents. The bowlers mixed their pace, set fields to tempt certain shots, switched to spin, and tried bowling from around the wicket. These combined methods all played their part as they chipped away at the batsmen’s resistance. But since all but two of the wickets were bowled, it was simple accuracy that proved the most effective weapon. The tension grew as the final twenty overs ticked by, eventually leaving the last pair of batsmen stubbornly holding on for the draw. But the vital tenth wicket fell at last, with just 10 balls of the match remaining. The Horizontals had achieved a satisfying victory. Matt got an impressive 5-fer, while Amit took 3 wickets and David Scally 2.