A youthful Hill side hosted the team who had arguably provided this season’s sternest examination to date. Five colts, including league debuts for two Spellings, featured in the team as the Surrey Downs League continues to allow Hill to blood youngsters! The Oxted skipper won the toss and elected to bat, once again removing the need for a decision.
Jones Jnr and Smith were gifted the new ball and both made early inroads as the visitors struggled from the outset. The latter was the first to strike after the batsman chipped the ball to mid-off for a routine catch. At the other end, Jones Jnr was causing problems with his line and elicited a number of plays and misses. When he did eventually find the edge, Zolfe did the rest and the visiting side limped to 7-2 from the opening 5 overs. Smith’s second wicket came from a wild swipe which Zolfe had to backpedal to claim. Hill’s fourth wicket came as a shock to all involved as Jacobs held onto a sharp catch at point; the cynical might suggest that he was unable to gate out of the way, but either way it was a third scalp for Smith.
Jacobs replaced Jones shortly after and he helped to break the most defiant partnership posted by the visiting side, emphatically bowling his man to leave Oxted 30-5. He wasted little time in grabbing a second wicket as Zolfe gratefully held on to the nick. The final 4 wickets were picked up by Ransom and Chipperton. The latter enjoyed some uncharacteristic turn on the green pitch and this helped him comprehensively bowl his man. At the other end, some circus-esque juggling at mid-off by Jones Jnr helped Ransom claim his first victim. Zolfe combined with Ransom for the penultimate wicket, with some quick thinking from the former leading to a stumping. The final wicket fell as Ransom bowled their young colt who had gamely fought to 33 and accounted for over half of their runs in a valiant effort.
For a second consecutive home game, Hill were left to rue the outcome of the toss. The modest total of 61 should have been relatively plain sailing, but again meant that opportunities for run scoring of note were at a premium. Srivastava retained his opening berth and was joined at the crease by Jones Snr. The last time he opened on a Saturday led to the demise of an innocent chair and the inception of a bespoke trophy, could we expect similar fireworks this time around?
Hill’s affable Zimbabwean took on the role of aggressor and was ably supported by Srivastava. A flurry of boundaries helped to get Hill off to a flying start and he brought up a quarter of the total in one particularly fruitful over. Oxted’s second and third changes stemmed the flow of runs and started to provide a more thorough examination of the Hill batsmen. After starring with the bat, the young Oxted spinner dismissed Jones, albeit with a rank long hop that was squirted to short fine leg. Matthews came to the crease in the unenviable position of requiring 9 to win and thoughts turning to the early finish. In his efforts to keep the scoreboard ticking over, he played on to his own stumps with Hill 7 short of the required total. Rolfe staved off some probing bowling and survived in order to watch Srivatava bring up the winning runs from the other end.
All in all, another relatively one-sided affair as Hill and Sutton continued their game of seeing who could finish earlier on a Saturday afternoon! Although largely untroubled on the day, nothing should be taken away from Hill claiming a tenth successive victory!
Player of the match – Sponsored by Nicholls Residential = Dafydd Jones
Park Hill Cricket Club 