With the game taking place at the aptly named Forest Green CC, Chipperton opted to have a bat on the verdant deck. Two relatively one-sided Ruxley affairs in recent weeks that featured chasing modest totals meant Hill were overdue a bat in the first innings. Few could have predicted that what transpired in the borderlands of Surrey/West Sussex in Division 4 of the SLD would equal that of the 5th test at The Oval; nonetheless, this pulsating affair featured a similarly nail-biting conclusion! Who batted like a one-armed Chris Woakes with one arm in a sling? Form your own opinions…
Srivastava and Chipperton opened up and faced a stern examination in the early stages, as both bowlers made good use of the conditions and the track. The pair scraped and fought to turgid 9s apiece before departing either side of Matthews. To say that limping along at 26-3 from 15 overs was not on the skipper’s bingo card would be quite the understatement, but on the flipside it was time for other Hillians to roll up their sleeves (hopefully not Woak-esque) and respond to adversity. McLean and Ransom were Hill’s fourth wicket partnership Hill and much rested on their shoulders. The had former notched a maiden club half-century the week before and Ransom had plundered Sunday runs all season, so all hope was not lost. The pair steadied the ship and managed to drown out the dulcet tones of the effervescent keeper. Ransom in particular managed to quieten the lively outfield chatter when despatching successive maximums, but fell shortly after on 39. The partnership proved to be Hill’s most profitable and left Hill on 86-4.
The next couple of overs tipped the balance back in the favours of the hosts, as Hill’s counter stalled drastically and they collapsed to 88-7 as McLean, Newcomen and Subramanium departed. The combined age of the two players left to rebuild the innings – Rolfe and Panchalingam – was younger than the next youngest Hillian on the day! However, both dug in and helped Hill to inch towards a defendable total. Extras second top scored for Hill on 23, so every run was cheered in the closing stages and Zolfe (with 17) and Smith (10) helped Hill reach 124 all out. Having been looking down the barrel of a sub-100 score, a few missed catches and errors from the hosts meant Hill left the field in a fairly buoyant mood, even if the innings had not panned out entirely as planned! Subramanium and Smith were handed the new ball as Hill looked to make a fast start. The fast start was initially provided by the Capel skipper, as he took on the ‘Bazball’ mantle and hit the ball around the park, with a particular pre(m)dilection for Subramanium! Ransom was quickly introduced to stem the flow of runs and make a breakthrough and duly delivered, albeit taking a catch from Smith’s bowling. Smith then took the key wicket of the captain, who went to the well one too many times and hauled out to Chipperton at long-off. Capel had raced to 49-2 from 9 overs and made a severe dent in the required total; with 70 runs to score in 30 overs, and 8 wickets to boot, the ‘win-viz’ tipped favourably in Capel’s direction.
Hill’s third wicket featured a certain degree of schadenfreude. For those unfamiliar with the purloined German expression, this is categorised as “the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from the first-hand or second-hand learning of the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or humiliation of another.” In this case, it was the demise of the Capel keeper who’d been vocal during the first innings. Smith celebrated his 2nd wicket by immediately serving up a ‘hit me anywhere’ full toss that was deservedly sent into The Parrot’s beer garden. Unimpressed by his antics in the first innings, namely the non-stop signing behind the stumps, Chipperton challenged him to ‘hit me baby one more time.’ To Hill’s delight, he was caught in two minds and patted up his second delivery to Newcomen at midwicket to depart with his tail between his legs.
Chipperton bowled his man through the gate and took a catch off Ransom at gully to peg Capel back to 81-5. Having been coasting at 40-0, Capel were fully aware that they were still in a contest; they would need to work for every run! Smith returned the favour from earlier in the innings and held a catch from Ransom to reduce Capel to 6 down. Hill continued to turn the screws and Capel seemed content in blocking Chipperton and Ransom. When the latter’s spend ended, Hunt stepped up at took the next two wickets, with Zolfe taking a catch and stumping respectively. The next partnership was a stubborn one as neither youngster conspired to throw away their wicket, unlike some of the older statemen on the day! Catches went awry for Hill as the nerves crept in as their winning streak faced its most exacting challenge to date! Matthews held on to a catch at mid-wicket as Chipperton claimed the penultimate scalp to set up a tense finale. It was fitting that the young pair who showed great composure with the bat combined to claim a run out a seal a dramatic 6 run victory!
Player of the match – Sponsored by Nicholls Residential = Elliot Ransom
Park Hill Cricket Club 