Match Report: Richard Goldsborough
Twas a gloomy Sunday afternoon as the merry men of Park Hill travelled to the what-would-be picturesque ground of Westcott CC for a reduced 30 over game, due to the inclement weatherm
Hill lost the toss and had the rare treat of batting first. Goldsbrough and Jeavons opened up and saw off the opening bowlers to nudge things along to 50 without loss before the former skied a dolly to the keeper. Enter Big Kyle. Patient as ever, he gave himself at least 3 balls to get the pace of the wicket before getting stuck into the feast that awaited him. Jeavons exited as did Phil Nac and Steve soon after before Young Zack joined the now flying Kyle. Kyle was bashing 6s and 4s to all corners of the small ground and Zack soon joined in the fun, with some exquisite pulls and clips to the leg side.
Zack made a super 16 before exiting and the less-Young Jake joined the fray. By this point Kyle was going about his business like Ronnie Kray in the Blind Beggar. Balls good and bad were dispatched to all corners in an exhibition of strength and power that soon motored the score along. Jake got in the fun too with some decent blows before Kyle smashed the last ball of the innings for 6 to get a well deserved 104* and to take the total to a massive 201 in just 30 overs.
We tucked into a decent tea comforted that we had enough to win the game and took this confidence into the field. Lawn and Blake opened up, with Lawny bowling very tidily, but it was Blake who picked up two early wickets to put even more pressure on the batting side.
Smith came along and collected 2 further wickets, one stumping after a great bit of glove work from Young Zack who kept very well to some ‘mixed’ lines from his bowlers.
Despite this the oppo kept chipping away at the score and it soon became clear that their batting talent lay in the lower middle order. Suddenly the ball was flying to the boundary and we struggled to contain them. The field was out, a couple of chances went begging and tensions rose. Indeed it looked like they were going to chase us down before Jeavons took a superb over the shoulder catch to remove one of their danger men.
Not content with being our best batter, Kyle then showed us how to bowl too, with a short but very tight set of overs to bring back control. Ably supported by the old heads of KP and Nacmanson we bought the game home comfortably in the end.
All in all another great Sunday afternoon, despite the weather, and an outstanding performance from Kyle to bring us victory.
Park Hill Cricket Club 