After being on the right end of a successful final ball run chase last week, Hill took to the road to take on Pyrford. The reverse fixture was a frustrating case of what could and should have been – could they avoid a similar fate this time around? The astute observer will have already deduced this from the heading…
With overcast conditions and a green looking wicket, electing to bowl seems to be a reasonable choice at the toss. Chipperton tossed the new ball to Mackay and Jones Jnr in the search for early breakthroughs. The former was unlucky not to claim an early scalp as he routinely beat and then found the outside edge to no avail, despite the best efforts of the increasingly packed cordon. One opener lived a particularly charmed life and eventually fell shy of a streaky 50 to Aynsley-Smith, as the hosts closed on the 100 mark at the halfway stage. Their good start and supply of wickets in tow meant that Hill faced an uphill battle in the second half of the innings.
Hill’s fielding left a little to be desired and the quick outfield also enabled Pyrford to rattle along at a reasonable pace, even with varying the attack. To compound matters, the aforementioned conditions had given way to blazing sunshine and blue skies; Hill did not require any assistance in making their fielding any worse! Fortunately for them, the onlooking number 3 suffered an acute case of padrash and patted up a straightforward catch to Jones Jnr, who even off his own bowling, languidly reached out a hand to pluck the ball like his father reaching for a homebrew from the fridge.
The next man to strike was Vithalani, who enticed a loose drive which looped to Symons at cover. At the other end, Clarke had made a promising start to his bowling career for Hill and soon had a first league wicket to crown his first spell. Having raised the quality of Hill’s fielding, it would be remiss of me to not mention the sprawling gully catch that Subramanium pulled off to earn Mackay a wicket on his return to the attack following his luckless first spell. Mackay then held a catch at long-on from the captain’s bowling to claim their 6th wicket, as Hill continued to toil in the heat.
Mackay eventually dismissed the other opener who had scored a well-made century and anchored the innings for the hosts. Subramanium claimed Hill’s final wicket with some experienced death bowling and Pyrford finished with 215-8 from their 40 overs.
Vithalani and Chipperton opened the batting and looked to make a positive start to the run chase. A near-calamitous run out was narrowly averted and the usually unflappable duo started to get a little jittery. After racing to 27 off the opening 4 overs, Vithalani fell LBW as Pyrford brought their spinner on in the 5th over. The rebuild job did not go as planned as Chipperton guided the ball to gully shortly afterwards to leave Hill 2 down.Goldsborough, re-energised after an afternoon of boundary riding and conversing with the local pensioners, strode to the crease and joined Mackay. The two new batsmen needed to restore stability and give Hill a platform in the game. Both did so with composure and resilience, finding the boundary whilst avoiding high risk shots.
Mackay fell as Hill passed 100, but the early storm had been weathered and the visitors still had a chance of chasing down the required total. Regrettably, 104-3 was soon 128-6 as Hill were pegged back and the runs dried up. Goldsborough departed for a top score of 34, whilst Symons and Radcox were both caught. With the required rate rising, Hill’s hopes of victory were dwindling, but they did not throw in the towel and utilised their full allocation of overs, with Aynsley-Smith, Subramanium, Rolfe and Jones Jnr all making contributions.
Falling 44 runs short of Pyrford’s total, Hill were left to rue some slack fielding and missed opportunities. With 3 games left of the season, they still hope to find themselves in the chasing pack in what has been a strange opening season in the Surrey Downs League. That being said, another visit to a scenic ground and some generous hosting post game reaffirmed that the move has been a successful one – even if the league table suggests otherwise!
Player of the match – Sponsored by Nicholls Residential = Richard Goldsborough
Park Hill Cricket Club 