With the Tadworth fiasco firmly in the rearview mirror, Hill looked to return to winning ways at Fortress Ruxley. Somewhat unnervingly, it was another relatively straightforward build up to the game, with 11 players materialising early on in the week and a good balance of batting and bowling options: surely too good to be true?
Opponents, Pryford, arrived in high spirits and were an amiable bunch. Having won the toss and provided some clarification as to where on earth Pyrford is (near Woking apparently), they elected to have a bowl. Hill went for an opening partnership of Stupples and Newcomen. The latter made an authoritative start by punching a straight drive back past the umpire for an early boundary and statement of intent. Unfortunately, this display of poise and elegance was short lived – he was soon dismissed after an agricultural hoik went awry and his stumps were re-arranged. Incidentally, he remained padded up and continued to rehearse his material for an upcoming stand up gig!
Vithalani was in at three, after providing a rare bright spark on a dark day last time out. The partnership accumulated runs at a steady rate and looked relatively unscathed until both fell in short succession to LBW calls, either side of Ransom successfully recreating Newcomen’s dismissal. 69-4 was not an ideal position, but this was soon 73-6 in a couple of overs. Radcox was the first to fall after he squirted the ball towards the backward point region and was unfortunate enough to be the victim of a sprawling full-length catch. Subramaniam attempted to steady the ship, but he narrowly glanced one off his legs and the young keeper took a very sharp catch to send him packing.
Rolfe was the next cab off the rank and he joined Chipperton with the brief of ensuring Hill did not replicate last week’s calamitous collapse. He looked solid in defence and scampered quick singles and occasionally converted these into twos with the captain. The scampering proved to be his undoing and his was run out after an ambitious three call proved ill-advised. When Jones Snr strode to the crease, the brief was to ensure that Hill reached the 120 mark, as they were some 30 runs shy of this, it was certainly not a given. Oft maligned for chucking away his wicket, he batted sensibly and blended aggressive intent with good running – his tweaked hamstring can attest to the latter. He departed for a quickfire 26 and played a key role in the 50 run partnership that took Hill to something approaching a defendable total. Jones Jnr then looked to follow in his footsteps (an easy task with his sizes 15s). One mighty six was the highlight of his knock as, where along with Chipperton, he took Hill beyond 180. Smith was the last man in and he stuck around to enable Chipperton to bring up an undefeated half century.
Hill were buoyant at tea and knew they had given themselves more than a fighting chance. They needed to bowl and field well in order to secure a victory; Jones Jnr and Smith were tasked with leading the attack. A change of ends for Jones, much needed after being asked to run quick singles, led to him trundling in down the hill for a change. This paid immediate dividends as he struck in his first over. His hostile first spell got Hill’s tails up and resulted in him being on a hat trick ball, after bowling the new batsman and a bit of slip cordon juggling from Ransom. Ransom replaced Jones Jnr and struck inside his first over after eventually eliciting the LBW decision from the umpire. At 49-4, things had very much gone to plan.
However, the next phase of the game started to turn the tide of the contest as the 5th wicket partnership of 80 runs put Pyrford back in contention. Whilst credit must go to the batsmen for taking on the attack, Hill did squander chances: two dropped catches and an uncharacteristic missed stumping left them wondering what might have been. Jones Snr, still struggling with his hamstring, did find a breakthrough eventually, but with wickets in hand and 50 runs required in the final ten overs, the visitors were understandably confident of their chances.
Hill’s total of 5 extras points towards a reasonably controlled bowling display, but a measured run chase and slice of good fortune meant that the result was difficult to contest. Pyrford chased down the target with 4 overs remaining, which consigned Park Hill to a fourth loss in six games.
Player of the match – Sponsored by Nicholls Residential = Tyler Jones
Park Hill Cricket Club 