SIX BATSMEN TAKE A WALK ON THE WILDE SIDE - BUT HAVE THE GURS RUN OUT OF ROAD?
A bitter/sweet day in many ways for Gurs' Chairman Vayro. He'll reflect warmly tonight on Sup/Resp RM John Wilde's first fiverfer for the club, but lament that it was all too little too late to restrict Rehtakul Veets CC&FC to the sort of score which could have yielded precious NRR points. He'll admire the depth of his batting which saw Rem/Sup Staveley and Sup/Wond Noon rescue his side from potential danger at 112/2, but shake his head that Greening and Jeffery threw their wickets away when well set, allowing the run rate to tumble. He'll marvel at the thirty thousand fans who filled the newly expanded stadium to keep the promotion dream alive, but privately, he and many of them will now have to concede that they've simply left themselves too much work in the last three games.
After being asked to bat by Gurs' Captain Strong/Resp Bat Patel, Bailey, one of only three Exc Bats in the division, provided the corner-stone of The Veets 252 A/O, with an unbeaten 122. Bewers struck in his first spell to remove Rem McCarthy for 30, with the score on 49, but then the Gurs allowed things to drift, as Bailey added first 70 for the second wicket with Prof Byrne, then 119 for the third with Qual Kempson. Wilde did bag three separate braces of wickets in his final spell, but by then irreparable damage had already been done to The Gurs' chances of winning the league, if not the match. And nobody will feel that disappointment more acutely tonight than Gurs' hitman, Rem/Sup LM Bewers, who after starting the season so promisingly, has now taken just one wicket in his last three matches, including today's worst figures of 1/66. Wilde took the MOTM Champaign for his 6/55, while Sup/Resp LFM Carlton, Strong/Strong LHS Jeffery and Strong/Prof LHS Cash were solid yet anonymous with 0/46, 1/43 and 0/48 respectively.
So the Gurs needed their Exc Batsman, Greening to do as his counterpart had done, if his side were not only going to win, but win at the sort of rate which could keep them in the Championship race. And whilst he did contribute to a 101 run opening partnership, he, like Bewers, was unusually subdued, leaving the role of aggressor-in-chief to opening partner, Strong/Prof pinch-hitter Jeffery. The pair had brought up the hundred in the twentieth over, having seemingly set the platform to launch an attack, when Greening fended a half-hearted catch to keeper Bailey, for a dismissal which perfectly encapsulated the soporific nature of his innings. His departure for 34 brought an equally soporific Staveley to the crease, who took fully four overs to wipe the sleep from his eyes following his nap in the dressingroom. The good news was that, with the score on 112, he was soon shaken from his slumber, the bad news however was that he was roused by a mid-pitch collision with Jeffery, which cost the latter his wicket for a tree-chopping 71, 8 x4, 2 x6. .
Having witnessed both the way Jeffery had been wielding his bat and the look on his face as he limped from the pitch, Staveley decided sensibly that he'd ought to see the match out from the middle, in order to give Jeffery the maximum possible cooling off time! And in fairness neither he, (83*), nor Noon, (57*) ever looked in danger of letting the win slip, as they progressed steadfastly towards the chequered Flag, though alas, more in the fashion of a Challenger tank than a Ferrari, guzzling up the overs to come home in 45 exactly.
And the news was no better from the dressingroom, as confirmation came through that Whos Your Daddy had taken a 2.73 NRR boost from their win over relegation-haunted Victoria Drivers, as compared with The Gurs slender 0.59 increase. Overall, both sides have 40 points from eleven games, with The Daddys leading the way with 21.54 NRR, to The Gurs' 16.90. One small shred of hope - Next week the tables are turned, with Vayro's men travelling to out-of-sorts Victoria Drivers, and The Daddys playing host to the rapidly improving Veets.
PAN RATINGS:
Cymru Gurgitaters Rehtakul Veets CC&FC
Top Order: quality quality
Middle Order: proficient competent
Lower Order: woeful worthless
Seam Bowling: strong proficient
Spin Bowling: proficient superb
Fielding: feeble feeble
How are everyone's run-ins looking? Looks as though Mahindinho might escape the drop, Scaly could be going up, and possibly another title for Adam? How about the rest of you?
Later, Trev,
PS, Know this is the wrong thread, but I'm off home in a sec, and quite frankly I'm more scared of my Mrs than I am of James!...But Good luck for Sunday Rob! Reckon you'll most likely win, but I hope to make it tough for you.
