The second team made their way over to Rowledge with, thankfully, the week-long heatwave having passed. It was still very warm but, with a little more in the way of cloud cover, certainly not as oppressive as it had been.
The availability issues of the week meant that there were call-ups for a couple of 3’s players but, overall, the team looked capable and well-balanced.
Win toss, bat first
Stepping into skipper Tiley’s shoes (stag weekend), Rogan had one job at the toss. Win it and bat first. He lost it and we bowled first. Already with some grumbles in the dressing room, Rogan was determined to make up for it and began an impressive burst, beating the bat on several occasions and being genuinely unlucky against their number 2, who was mixing some swipes with some good hitting. Will Mc opened at the other end and, whilst not at his immediate best, was still inducing some half-chances which fell just beyond reach.
Rowledge set off at a great pace, a fast outfield and decent strip meaning that they got the most out of their attacking approach. Their number 2 reached his half-century at over a run a ball whilst the other opener approached it more sedately. Zac came on first change and, whilst struggling to find his radar initially, grabbed the vital first wicket, nicely taken by Nige at point. 75-1, a wicket which was much needed.
Runs keep a-flowin’
Any hope of another quick wicket was dispelled, however, the number 3 coming in and striking at over a run a ball for 27, Will Mc grabbing a deserved wicket. The dangerous number 2 was then snaffled, bowled Rogan (who richly deserved some reward) and smartly taken by Dan at mid-off, for 58 well-taken runs.
Rogan then picked up another, Rowledge’s number 4 being trapped LBW before an inspired change of bowling brought Ravi into the action.
Control and wickets
As he has been doing all season for the 3’s, Ravi exerted some good control from ball 2 (ball 1 being smacked for a boundary) and proceeded to return superb figures of 8-1-37-3, the underrated values of bowling good lines and good lengths on show. Two clean bowled and one via a smart catch by Goughy were good reward for an excellent spell of bowling.
Noah tied up the other end very nicely with a mixture of cutters and offies and grabbed a deserved wicket of his own, caught again by Goughy. Noah ended with figures of 8-0-32-1. With the scoring rate now dropping, compared to the helter-skelter start, Oakley were delighted to keep Rowledge to 222 (said in a Richie Benaud voice) for 9 from their 40 overs. Given the fast outfield, heat, and attacking approach from Rowledge, this was a superb effort.
Rogan managed the attack well, was sensible enough to give himself three short spells, and attacked when needing to. He deserved his 3 wickets, 8 overs, and just 31 runs.
The chase
With a run rate of 5.5 per over, we knew that we had a good chance of winning. However, we also knew that a couple of players would need to contribute decent scores. Nige and Bayliss opened up and Nige soon got about his business with some lovely boundaries. Bayliss was unlucky to fall to a superb catch when, on another day, he would have got away with it. Dan then joined Nige at the crease but never really got going, fighting hard to stay in rather than accumulating runs, departing for a tortuous 2.
This brought Jack to the crease, who dug in well, producing one of the shots of the day with a beautiful straight drive down the ground. After Jack departed for 14, Nigel completed a well-deserved 50 before falling for 54, which brought Goughy to the crease.
An Injury, Some Mankad Nonsense, and a Telling-off
Building his innings nicely, Goughy was unlucky to suffer an injury which ultimately required a runner to be brought out and the usual chaos to ensue, with clarification of rules, general head-scratching, an attempted Mankad, accusations of foul play, and a rather glorious “Bayliss in full-on Headteacher mode”, tearing a strip off one of the opposition youngsters who had the temerity to question his morals and proposing his own question of “Do you want to play cricket next weekend?” to the young pup who probably didn’t realise he was talking his way into a one-match suspension. A shame, as the game was played in good spirit but, to be fair, the game was getting close, it was going on far too long, and everyone was hot and tired.
The injury appeared to free up Goughy, who correctly determined that it was “shit or bust” and proceeded to smash some lovely boundaries, including a massive 6.
By this time, Noah had joined Goughy in the middle and, after a scratchy start against some good bowling, got into his groove with some excellent running and boundaries of his own, the pick of them being a lofted smash through mid-wicket.
Closer and Closer
With the run rate now being around 8 an over with 3 overs left, the game could have gone either way. Will Rabley joined Noah after Goughy departed for an excellent and belligerent 52, and they both ran superbly well, turning 1’s into 2’s and 2’s into 3’s. However, the Rowledge bowling continued to cause problems and the returning opening bowler picked up where he left off with some good deliveries. Although the scoreboard kept ticking over, 9 runs were needed off the final over and a few heaves didn’t connect, Will holed out doing the right thing, and Rogan, needing 6 to win off the final ball, didn’t quite manage to connect and we fell short. Noah ended up 36 not out at a run a ball, an excellent innings.
Good game, good spirit (mostly) and a tough one to take
Aside from 4 overs where Rowledge lost themselves somewhat, the game was played in good spirit and was always competitive. Handshakes all round and an appreciation from both sides of some good bowling and better batting.
Once the dust had settled, we knew that this is exactly the kind of game you want at the level we are at. Good, competitive cricket and a close game. Sure, it would have been nicer to end up winning it but loads to be encouraged by.