As statisticians dream unfolded at Oakley Park today as the Sunday Oaks recorded yet another fine victory against opponents Bounty Social on a warm sunny afternoon that was most welcome after a miserable fortnight of weather.
First up for club stat man, Steve Savage, was a golden duck for the irrepressible Brad Compton-Bearne, giving a young man who has hit 48 sixes already this summer, the dubious honour of a weekend golden pair; the first for some time, perhaps ever?
A more positive note was a partnership of 150 between Jack Brundle (50 ret) and Ian Bennett (103 ret) that came after the Oaks were reeling at 14-3.
Ian’s ton came courtesy of 8 sixes and 8 fours, which is a remarkable achievement considering it is his first year playing cricket (he chases eggs for Basingstoke RFC in the winter) whilst Jack was happy to play second fiddle as he nurdled his way to a maiden Oakley 50.
Proud Oaks: 150 Partnership for Ian and Jack
Not to be outdone, Bob Lethaby came to the crease and challenged Mr Savage and his stats once again, completing and innings of 13 with a 100% strike rate of 13 miscued shots as the Oaks looked to push the score past 200.
After Bob departed, it was down to Dan Sumner to offer his own little cameo, bludgeoning 32 off 8 balls as the Oaks raced to 239-5 off their allocated overs on what was turning into a remarkable performance.
Defending the target, Tom Barnes steamed in and took three quick wickets to rip the heart out of the Bounty batting and after that it was all a bit of a cakewalk as further wickets for the King brothers, Brad Compton-Bearne and Mark Potter finished off proceedings, despite Perry King challenging Mr Savage’s record books once again with potentially the worst ever attempted catch at Oakley CC.
Perry ran to the ball and proceeded to clap at it like demented water park seal demanding a mackerel, resulting in the ball hitting the floor without even touching his hands. Such was the ineptitude of his effort, the rest of the team wondered if Perry had been replaced by Deano James without notice.
However, it mattered little, and the Oaks ran out handsome winners by 140 runs, keeping the Sunday winning run going strong in Brad’s first season at the helm.
MOM Ian Bennett-103 Not-Out – Who needs that silly egg chasing game anyway?
Up the Oaks?