SJFCC vs Ace of Clubs
2006-07-27. Win by 68 runs By Chris Williams
Result: SJFCC 187 for 6 from 20 overs. Ace of Clubs 119 for 8 from 20 overs
A comfortable victory, played in slightly surreal circumstances given the thunder and lightning in the distance (not overhead, just in case my wife reads this) and more than one shower of rain which caused steam to rise from the pitch after the hot weather of late.
Fishers batted first with a new opening partnership of Rafi and his son Aqil. Both did really well, Aqil hitting a quickfire 11 and Rafi retiring for 25 which included 4 fours. It soon became clear that bowling was not the oppo’s stronger suit (pun intended!) and everyone apart from me and Adam H proceeded to fill their boots. Jakubowski hit an excellent 26 before retiring and then Malc smashed 3 fours in his 14. Boxer (our Ace!) then decided the bowling was there to be hit and creamed 32 before he retired including one beautiful 6. Bungle followed suit (!) and hit 15, but the joker in the pack proved to be Dan. Fresh from his excellent batting against Killigrew the week before, he came in, occasionally moved his feet, and hit 28 including a pair (!) of beautiful sixes. Lovely stuff. This meant that we amassed 187 off our 20 overs, one of our highest 20 over scores ever.
All we had to do was defend this total and hope the oppo didn’t have too many three card tricks up their sleeves. It was soon clear we were on firm ground. Bungle opened up with a spell tighter than Dan’s wallet, dismissing one opener and taking 1-9. Malc was unlucky not to take a wicket but wickets fell at regular intervals to Rafi (1-11), Cox (1-7) Adam (1-19) and Boxer dealing a fresh hand of off spin and taking 2 wickets in his first over, including a smart stumping by Martin. The oppo’s 7th wicket pair put on over 40, but the result was never in doubt. The biggest danger to us all was the light which by 9.15 pm was non-existent, and there followed a series of comic moments where a number of fielders were made to look silly by not being able to see the ball. No names mentioned, but you know who you are…….
So two wins on the bounce, this one by the crushing margin of 68 runs.
Man of the match: Diamond performances by Dave and Dan, but award goes to Rafi for his 25 runs and 1 wicket.
