Superstars strike back
Superstars vs Dodgers
Chiswick
Thursday 2 June 2000
Start 2.30pm
Finish 7.45pm
Weather: Dry
Dodgers won toss and elected to field
40 overs
On a glorious day by the standards that have so far preceded it, Superstars, having been put into bat by Carr took to the field at Chiswick for the first rematch of the season.
Good tight opening bowling by Benn and Roper restricted Superstars' first pair to a slow start. Gigg, their captain and some time Transec-er, settled in quickly and confidently. However, Steve Carter at the other end looked slightly less sure of himself and soon succumbed to a dolly catch by Roper off Benn for a duck. The sardonic Dodgers hinted that tactically this may not have been the best of moves but that it would have been imprudent not to take it.
Meyler joined Gigg for a fairly brisk 18. He was dropped by Cooper off Birch Minor, running in from cover who only to "lose the ball at the last minute in the sun". He was caught sharply by Priest at slip fairly shortly afterwards.
Whitrod played cautiously and hit out at the right balls for his well-paced 34 before being bowled comprehensively by Benn. Matthews suffered a recurrence of an old war wound early on and had to be helped off the field. Benn threw on the pads behind the stumps to be replaced later by Priest. Crozier made 9 but was expertly run out by Roper who threw the stumps down from 6 yards up the wicket. Gundry came out and made a quick 16 before he too was clean bowled, this time by debutant Bultitude. Terry Carter was bowled by Benn for only 4 as Superstars looked to up the scoring rate near the end of the game. At one time they looked like making 180 but would have needed an extra over to make this. Taylor and Marchant saw the innings out on 10 and 2 respectively. Superstars were 173 for 7 wickets off their full 40 overs.
After the "tea" interval Dodgers set about what was considered to be a fairly modest total. And they set off like a rocket. With Benn consolidating at one end, the merciless Bultitude set about Gundry like a man possessed. To the distant sound of great cheers from the bench he pasted the ball to all quarters. At the end of 3 overs Dodgers had reached an impressive 26 runs. Inevitably it was too good to last and he Bultitude succumbed to a catch by Perera off Patton having made 22 including 4 fours.
Cooper, now established as the number three in matches where Dodgers play Superstars, joined Benn. Dicing with death at every turn, a streaky one flew over slip. A high one to mid-on was dropped by Perera. A miraculous run-out escape! The deceptive Taylor drew another hoick (sic) which lofted to the ubiquitous Gundry who is clearly Cooper's nemesis.
Benn continued to nurdle (a word heard to be uttered by the Channel 4 Test Match team) proficiently gathering important singles and twos. Most importantly he stayed around to anchor the innings.
Priest, batting at four strode in and after taking a single tried to cut a rising one but Gigg plucked it out of the air at point. It was a good catch but as Priest commented on returning to the bench it was "a shit shot" (editorial licence invoked here).
Sandamas, in next, did not fare much better, being clean bowled by the increasingly accurate Taylor without troubling the scorer. Worse was yet to happen as Roper following at number six joined the Golden Club (inaugurated this season by Cooper against Transec). Dodgers had gone from 48 for 2 to 50 for 5 in short order.
Carr brought some much-needed stability and runs to the middle order and with Benn they pushed the score on before towards one hundred. An unfortunate mix-up led to Carr being stranded.
Birch Minor got in and then after having warned by the 'keeper got out for 6, thereby avoiding having to bat with his dad, Birch Major. The reliable Gigg took the catch off Marchant. The aforesaid Major took a direct hit from Perera for 1 who was producing a very tidy spell.
Leach, coming in with Dodgers on 106 for 8 and facing an uphill task produced stoic resistance but fell foul of an unscheduled meeting in the centre of the wicket with Benn who noticing the urgency of the situation had accelerated (slightly) his scoring rate. The ball made it's way to the stumps and the run-out curse had hit Dodgers again.
With Matthews otherwise indisposed Dodgers brought on Brierley who had conveniently arrived not long before to bat. However, with the score on 108 for 9 and still needing 64 win, things weren't looking rosy. Some slipshod and slapstick fielding resulted in one for the collectors - a five. But with Superstars toying with the tail end the bitter end loomed. With one final pounce Marchant took Brierley's dolly off Crozier. The defiant Benn carried his bat but ran out of partners and Dodgers were 121 all out slumping to their first defeat of the season.
Result: Superstars won by 52 runs
Man of the Match: Darren Bultitude
Superstars won by 52 runs
Superstars vs Dodgers
Chiswick
Thursday 2 June 2000
Start 2.30pm
Finish 7.45pm
Weather: Dry
Dodgers won toss and elected to field
40 overs
On a glorious day by the standards that have so far preceded it, Superstars, having been put into bat by Carr took to the field at Chiswick for the first rematch of the season.
Good tight opening bowling by Benn and Roper restricted Superstars' first pair to a slow start. Gigg, their captain and some time Transec-er, settled in quickly and confidently. However, Steve Carter at the other end looked slightly less sure of himself and soon succumbed to a dolly catch by Roper off Benn for a duck. The sardonic Dodgers hinted that tactically this may not have been the best of moves but that it would have been imprudent not to take it.
Meyler joined Gigg for a fairly brisk 18. He was dropped by Cooper off Birch Minor, running in from cover who only to "lose the ball at the last minute in the sun". He was caught sharply by Priest at slip fairly shortly afterwards.
Whitrod played cautiously and hit out at the right balls for his well-paced 34 before being bowled comprehensively by Benn. Matthews suffered a recurrence of an old war wound early on and had to be helped off the field. Benn threw on the pads behind the stumps to be replaced later by Priest. Crozier made 9 but was expertly run out by Roper who threw the stumps down from 6 yards up the wicket. Gundry came out and made a quick 16 before he too was clean bowled, this time by debutant Bultitude. Terry Carter was bowled by Benn for only 4 as Superstars looked to up the scoring rate near the end of the game. At one time they looked like making 180 but would have needed an extra over to make this. Taylor and Marchant saw the innings out on 10 and 2 respectively. Superstars were 173 for 7 wickets off their full 40 overs.
After the "tea" interval Dodgers set about what was considered to be a fairly modest total. And they set off like a rocket. With Benn consolidating at one end, the merciless Bultitude set about Gundry like a man possessed. To the distant sound of great cheers from the bench he pasted the ball to all quarters. At the end of 3 overs Dodgers had reached an impressive 26 runs. Inevitably it was too good to last and he Bultitude succumbed to a catch by Perera off Patton having made 22 including 4 fours.
Cooper, now established as the number three in matches where Dodgers play Superstars, joined Benn. Dicing with death at every turn, a streaky one flew over slip. A high one to mid-on was dropped by Perera. A miraculous run-out escape! The deceptive Taylor drew another hoick (sic) which lofted to the ubiquitous Gundry who is clearly Cooper's nemesis.
Benn continued to nurdle (a word heard to be uttered by the Channel 4 Test Match team) proficiently gathering important singles and twos. Most importantly he stayed around to anchor the innings.
Priest, batting at four strode in and after taking a single tried to cut a rising one but Gigg plucked it out of the air at point. It was a good catch but as Priest commented on returning to the bench it was "a shit shot" (editorial licence invoked here).
Sandamas, in next, did not fare much better, being clean bowled by the increasingly accurate Taylor without troubling the scorer. Worse was yet to happen as Roper following at number six joined the Golden Club (inaugurated this season by Cooper against Transec). Dodgers had gone from 48 for 2 to 50 for 5 in short order.
Carr brought some much-needed stability and runs to the middle order and with Benn they pushed the score on before towards one hundred. An unfortunate mix-up led to Carr being stranded.
Birch Minor got in and then after having warned by the 'keeper got out for 6, thereby avoiding having to bat with his dad, Birch Major. The reliable Gigg took the catch off Marchant. The aforesaid Major took a direct hit from Perera for 1 who was producing a very tidy spell.
Leach, coming in with Dodgers on 106 for 8 and facing an uphill task produced stoic resistance but fell foul of an unscheduled meeting in the centre of the wicket with Benn who noticing the urgency of the situation had accelerated (slightly) his scoring rate. The ball made it's way to the stumps and the run-out curse had hit Dodgers again.
With Matthews otherwise indisposed Dodgers brought on Brierley who had conveniently arrived not long before to bat. However, with the score on 108 for 9 and still needing 64 win, things weren't looking rosy. Some slipshod and slapstick fielding resulted in one for the collectors - a five. But with Superstars toying with the tail end the bitter end loomed. With one final pounce Marchant took Brierley's dolly off Crozier. The defiant Benn carried his bat but ran out of partners and Dodgers were 121 all out slumping to their first defeat of the season.
Result: Superstars won by 52 runs
Man of the Match: Darren Bultitude
Superstars
Gigg* ct Roper b Birch S 52
Carter S ct Roper b Benn 0
Meyler ct Priest b Birch C 18
Whitrod b Benn 34
Crozier run out (Roper) 9
Gundry b Bultitude 16
Carter T b Benn 4
Taylor not out 10
Marchant not out 2
Extras 26
Total 173 for 7 wickets
did not bat: Perera, Patton
Bowling
O M R W Av
Benn 8 0 34 3 11.3
Roper 5 2 13 0 -
Birch C 8 0 29 1 29
Leach 8 0 33 0 -
Birch S 4 0 27 1 27
Bultitude 7 0 34 1 34
Dodgers
Benn not out 34
Bultitude ct Perera b Patton 22
Cooper b Taylor 14
Priest b Taylor 1
Sandamas b Taylor 0
Roper (Golden) b Marchant 0
Carr* run out (Taylor) 19
Birch C b Marchant 5
Birch S b Perera 1
Leach run out (?) 1
Brierley c Marchant b Crozier 7
Extras 17
Total 121 all out
(Matthews dnb)
Bowling
O M R W Av
Gundry 4 0 23 0 -
Patton 4 0 16 1 16
Taylor 8 3 13 3 4.3
Marchant 8 0 33 2 16.5
Perera 7 0 18 2 9
Crozier 1.4 0 3 1 3
Carter S 1 0 7 0 -
Fall of wicket: 1-27, 2-48, 3-49, 4-49, 5-50
6-91, 7-105, 8-106, 9-108, 10-121
Superstars won by 52 runs
Comments