Wriggle Valley 23/06/23

A slightly delayed start due to being dragged into the Chetnole Inn by the home team, the Wanderers elected to bat having won the toss twice (coin did not have heads and tails!) because James could not find Chetnole and had 4 DWCC players in the car including himself!

It was Stu who got the team off to a great start, using the pace of the ball to guide it to the leg-side boundary twice in the third over. The change of bowling brought about a change of gear for Raj, who now started to fire fours and one big six to all parts. Stu (13 from 23) was first out, caught forcing the pace with the next bowling change (47-1 from 9), having been barracked by Simon on the boundary for slow play! Next over saw Raj (31 from 38) hit another four taking him beyond the retire score of 30. By now Simon (7 from 11) was realising it was not easy to bat on and he went to one that kept low on him (64-2 from 12). This brought Leo to Join NJ Foz in the middle, with Leo attempting to ramp early on but with such little bounce, it was doomed from the start! This partnership was profitable, with Leo forcing Foz into running several twos! Eventually Foz (19 from 27) was bowled (96-3 from 18.2) bringing Shan to the crease, who tried his best but couldn’t get the boundaries he sought. Together with Leo, they ran some amazing twos that really stretched the fielding team, adding some vital runs to finish the innings 109-3 from the 20 overs.

Stephen (1-13 from 2) (on debut) took the wicket of the home captain with no score on the board when it was cut towards Skipper at extra cover who moved to his left and took a good low catch. This brought together a partnership that took the momentum of the game in Wriggle’s favour. Ali (0-20 from 2) was unusually expensive from the tree end including a huge six to square-leg. Simon (0-18 from 2) came on at the church end to try to produce some magic to break the partnership, but was too short and then over-pitched, being driven into the churchyard. He did break the partnership when one such boundary brought about the retirement of the batsman. Foz (0-7 from 2) appeared to force the breakthrough with a big leading edge going high to Skipper who, having got well set, managed to spill the catch. It wasn’t until Harry (2-12 from 4) came on that some leg-spin caused issues, with an LBW decision going his way (the batsman convinced he had hit it) and then a stumping from Leo. This tight spell alongside Foz, had brought the Wanderers back into contention. The Brill (1-19 from 3) got reward for his endeavours with Shan replacing him at the tree end. Shan took a wicket with a run out adding pressure on the batsmen. Raj bowled a maiden from the church end with Shan left to bowl the last over with 8 required. A dot ball meant 8 from 5 balls required. The next ball was high to mid-on where confusion reigned and no-one went for the catch. There was so much scratching of heads that they went back for a second run! Another two was followed by 2 singles meaning 2 needed off the last ball. The ball went through to Leo behind the stumps but instead of taking the bails off he through to the bowlers end where the batsman got in before the ball could be retrieved! A thrilling match ending in a Tie.

Many thanks to Wriggle Valley for a great game and super BBQ back at the Chetnole Inn.

MOM: Harry

Catch of the day: Skipper took the only catch (before dropping an easier one!)

Quote of the day: This pitch looks interesting.