DODGERS v BUCKHURST HILL
TIMED MATCH
ELTHAM
12 SEPTEMBER 1999
Result: Dodgers won by 2 wickets
Dodgers Man of the Match: Andrew Crawford
This final match of the 1999 season will be remembered for a nail biting finish, two outstanding 10th wicket stands and a broken nose. Buckhurst Hill (BH) won the toss and elected to bat. Under the complicated playing conditions agreed to by the captains the game would start at 1pm and there would be no limit on the number of overs available to the side batting first. The side batting second would receive whatever time was left plus 20 overs starting at 5.30pm.
Dodgers made a perfect start and some high class seam bowling from Kevin and good support from Andrew left BH tottering at 14-4. They recovered to 79-4 as a result of some good hitting from Ishmail and Osborne. Another collapse followed with Simon Gundry picking up 2 deserved wickets in a hostile spell of very fast bowling. John Hilary and Tony Whitrod took some stick but also picked up a wicket apiece (Whitrod removing the dangerous Smith with the one straight ball of his spell). At 101-9 BH look dead and buried but nos 10 and 11 engineered a sterling recovery which ended at 167 and 3.40pm (41 overs) with the run out of Ball. Not only did this leave us with a much bigger target to chase but it had used up a lot of the available time. The BH innings should have ended at 120 but John H put down a simple catch off the unfortunate and displeased Crawford (John was to redeem himself later).
The Dodgers reply started at 4.10pm and it turned out that we would have 41 overs to get the runs (exactly the same as BH). We avoided the early tumble of wickets which afflicted BH. John Adey was unfit to bowl and was promoted to open the batting. He didn't last long before being yorked by Nadeem. According to John this unplayable supercharged delivery swung and seamed prodigously, spun, moved in and away, leapt from a length and then kept low. I noticed that it also waved to the gallery and bought itself a pint before finally arrowing in on middle stump!
McBarron and Benn took the score to 47 before falling in quick succession both caught behind. Some beefy blows from Gundry introduced some needed momentum and at 82-3 we were well placed. Following Simon's dismissal to a brilliant catch we suffered a mid-innings wobble. Neil Priest experienced a rare failure and Guy also went cheaply to end a season he will wish to forget. John Carr was run out brilliantly just when he was getting into his stride and suddenly we were 104-7 and a draw looked like the limit of our ambition. Tony Whitrod chipped in with a quick 15 but when he was dismissed the drama really began.
Kevin came in at no10 and was almost immediately poleaxed by a delivery from Ball which he top edged onto his nose. Blood gushed out and in a scene reminiscent of Casualty he was helped from the field with a swollen purple hooter which was almost certainly broken. Crawford replaced our stricken hero and took guard on the blood stained wicket. With little prospect of Kevin returning we were effectively down to our last pair and were still nearly 50 runs short of our target with only 8 overs left. Amazingly, some excellent shots and good running by John H and Andrew kept us in contention and the last over from Ball started with Dodgers needing 13 runs and BH one wicket. A draw seemed the likeliest outcome particularly when only one single came off the first two balls. With 12 needed off 4 balls Andrew launched at a leg side delivery and connected perfectly and the ball sailed over the boundary for six. That changed the equation to 6 from 3 balls. The pressure was clearly getting to Ball and he bowled two successive long hops which Andrew pulverised for boundaries and we were home with one ball to spare. Easy really!
Thanks to Sian and Sue A for all the catering.
MATCH STATS
TIMED MATCH
ELTHAM
12 SEPTEMBER 1999
Result: Dodgers won by 2 wickets
Dodgers Man of the Match: Andrew Crawford
This final match of the 1999 season will be remembered for a nail biting finish, two outstanding 10th wicket stands and a broken nose. Buckhurst Hill (BH) won the toss and elected to bat. Under the complicated playing conditions agreed to by the captains the game would start at 1pm and there would be no limit on the number of overs available to the side batting first. The side batting second would receive whatever time was left plus 20 overs starting at 5.30pm.
Dodgers made a perfect start and some high class seam bowling from Kevin and good support from Andrew left BH tottering at 14-4. They recovered to 79-4 as a result of some good hitting from Ishmail and Osborne. Another collapse followed with Simon Gundry picking up 2 deserved wickets in a hostile spell of very fast bowling. John Hilary and Tony Whitrod took some stick but also picked up a wicket apiece (Whitrod removing the dangerous Smith with the one straight ball of his spell). At 101-9 BH look dead and buried but nos 10 and 11 engineered a sterling recovery which ended at 167 and 3.40pm (41 overs) with the run out of Ball. Not only did this leave us with a much bigger target to chase but it had used up a lot of the available time. The BH innings should have ended at 120 but John H put down a simple catch off the unfortunate and displeased Crawford (John was to redeem himself later).
The Dodgers reply started at 4.10pm and it turned out that we would have 41 overs to get the runs (exactly the same as BH). We avoided the early tumble of wickets which afflicted BH. John Adey was unfit to bowl and was promoted to open the batting. He didn't last long before being yorked by Nadeem. According to John this unplayable supercharged delivery swung and seamed prodigously, spun, moved in and away, leapt from a length and then kept low. I noticed that it also waved to the gallery and bought itself a pint before finally arrowing in on middle stump!
McBarron and Benn took the score to 47 before falling in quick succession both caught behind. Some beefy blows from Gundry introduced some needed momentum and at 82-3 we were well placed. Following Simon's dismissal to a brilliant catch we suffered a mid-innings wobble. Neil Priest experienced a rare failure and Guy also went cheaply to end a season he will wish to forget. John Carr was run out brilliantly just when he was getting into his stride and suddenly we were 104-7 and a draw looked like the limit of our ambition. Tony Whitrod chipped in with a quick 15 but when he was dismissed the drama really began.
Kevin came in at no10 and was almost immediately poleaxed by a delivery from Ball which he top edged onto his nose. Blood gushed out and in a scene reminiscent of Casualty he was helped from the field with a swollen purple hooter which was almost certainly broken. Crawford replaced our stricken hero and took guard on the blood stained wicket. With little prospect of Kevin returning we were effectively down to our last pair and were still nearly 50 runs short of our target with only 8 overs left. Amazingly, some excellent shots and good running by John H and Andrew kept us in contention and the last over from Ball started with Dodgers needing 13 runs and BH one wicket. A draw seemed the likeliest outcome particularly when only one single came off the first two balls. With 12 needed off 4 balls Andrew launched at a leg side delivery and connected perfectly and the ball sailed over the boundary for six. That changed the equation to 6 from 3 balls. The pressure was clearly getting to Ball and he bowled two successive long hops which Andrew pulverised for boundaries and we were home with one ball to spare. Easy really!
Thanks to Sian and Sue A for all the catering.
MATCH STATS
BUCKHURST HILL
Atkinson b Roper 0
Sabini lbw b Roper 8
O'Neil ct Westhead b Roper 0
Anthony b Crawford 0
Osborne ct Benn b Crawford 20
Ishmail b Hilary 38
Nadeem Run Out 0
Smith b Whitrod 23
Lilley ct Adey b Gundry 1
Rose Not Out 28
Ball Run Out 19
Extras 30
TOTAL (41 overs) 167 all out
Dodgers Bowling
K Roper 12 overs 3-31
A Crawford 9 overs 1-32
S Gundry 11 overs 2-26
J Hilary 5 overs 1-35
T Whitrod 2 overs 1-17
J Carr 2 overs 0-10
DODGERS
P McBarron ct Rose b Nadeem 25
J Adey b Nadeem 3
N Benn ct Rose b Ishmail 10
S Gundry ct O'Neil b Ball 24
J Carr Run Out 17
N Priest ct Atkinson b Ball 0
G Westhead ct Anthony b Ishmail 4
T Whitrod b Ishmail 15
John Hilary Not Out 28
Kevin Roper Retired Dead 1
Andrew Crawford Not Out 24
Extras 17
TOTAL (40.5 OVERS) 170 for 8
Buckhurst Hill
Osborne 6 overs 0-16
Nadeem 8 overs 2-32
Ishmail 17 overs 3-52
Ball 9.5 overs 2-60
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