Out in the outfield, the resident pied wagtail wagged
his tail. Up in the sky, the morning cloud broke up and the ground
was drenched in glorious sunshine. The Stroller’s captain set
a new sartorial standard by going out to take the toss dressed in
club cap and blazer. Richard Burgess, skippering the Horizontals,
wore his habitual figure-hugging whites, but nonetheless managed to
win the toss and elected to bat first in this time game. The Horizontal’s
opening pair, the skipper and Mike Herlihy, made an excellent start,
laying down a solid platform in a 76 run partnership which lasted
until the nineteenth over. But with both openers were lost in consecutive
overs, Richard for 28 and Mike for 33, the Horizontals needed to retrench.
There were grounds for optimism though, with a good batting line-up
and plenty of time to push on to a hefty score. Things didn’t
quite go to plan, however. The Strollers slow bowlers proved difficult
to put away, and the ball was keeping uncomfortably low. Spencer Fowler,
a one-time Horizontals player, had a particularly happy time of it.
By the end of the innings he’d taken six wickets for 33 runs.
Amit Shankar and Ian Porton came and went, pushing the score to 99.
Colin Walker, one of two players making a debut appearance for the
Horizontals, made a belligerent 12, and Craig Murray did likewise
for 13. Stivin Bordin, batting at 7, made a vital 23 runs, supported
by the lower order, bolstering the innings when a collapse had looked
immanent. The ninth wicket partnership between Richard Hyde, the second
Horizontals’ debutante of the day, and team stalwart and founder
member Roger Skipper, held firm. They were undefeated at tea with
the total standing at a fairly respectable 166 for 8.
Richard Hyde was soon back in the thick of things, opening the bowling
from the Green Lanes end, while Amit thundered in from the pavilion
end. Amit effectively stifled the scoring. But it was Richard who
took the wickets. Playing his first cricket for ten years, his return
to the game was the stuff of dreams, with 4 wickets for 42 runs off
7 overs. Two were bowled, while Ian took a couple of impressive running
catches out in the covers. The Strollers middle order, however, contained
some powerful hitters. They proceeded to mount a serious challenge
for the game. Some excellent aggressive running between the wickets
quickly ratcheted up the pressure on the on the fielding side. A catch
or two went down and there were some fumbles in the field. Roger’s
spell of spin was cut short after a vicious drive caught him on the
knee and poleaxed him. And Spencer continued his impressive all round
performance. Batting at number 8, clubbing his first ball away for
six, he looked more than capable of taking the game away from the
home side. Frustrated cries and frayed tempers threatened to get the
better of the Horizontals. But then came the turning point. Colin,
while bowling a brief spell, gathered the ball in his follow through
as the batsmen went for another risky run. Without hesitation, he
then calmly under-armed it to Stivin behind the stumps, who whipped
the bails off. Spencer was out and the tide had turned in the Horizontals’
favour. The Strollers refused to give up their pursuit of victory,
however. Where other teams might have shut up shop and played for
a draw, their positive attitude made for a very exciting game. Amit
was brought back into the attack and now took the wickets his bowling
deserved. Stumps were sent flying. His 12 overs, bowled in two spells,
yielded 3 wickets at a cost of 36 runs. He bowled 3 maidens. Craig
was also brought back on and the last wicket fell to him; a coolly
taken caught and bowled chance, with just 4 overs to go before the
close. Craig took 2 for 41 and the Horizontals took the game, though
the Strollers had come within 11 runs of their target. A lucky win,
then, for the home side.
