A faultless season reached it denouement with the division’s first and second placed sides competing for cup glory. Hill boasted a 2-0 lead going into the game, owing to their previous victory and ensuing title win. In a one-off, winner takes all clash at the home of cricket, would Sutton exact their revenge?
The visitors won the toss and inserted the hosts; their skipper had previously noticed Hill’s penchant for chasing and so looked to turn the tables. Wise heads were needed from the outset, so a bemusing promotion for Jones Snr might have confounded the sofa-bound Play Cricket spectators, less so his partner: the unflappable Stupples. The opening pair took a measured approach in the early stages until Jones was dismissed for 16 and with Hill on 29. Hopkins’ arrival made it the wicketkeepers’ union in the middle, and both men looked to nullify the threat posed by the Sutton openers and navigate the new ball.
They succeeded in their brief and Hopkins was dismissed on 23, having taken Hill comfortably beyond the 50 mark. Stupples was anchoring the innings and Hill needed to continue to support him at the other end. Srivastava and then Radcox made useful contributions and Stupples eventually fell for 65 as Hill looked to step on the gas for the final stages. The final 5 overs were closed out by Chipperton and Jones Jnr at a run a ball to post a total of 156 for 5. Credit must go to the Sutton XI who yielded only 8 extras and held several catches to stem the flow of runs. Having defended similarly modest totals in the past, Hill were quietly confident of accomplishing the job at hand.
A fast start was imperative: Jones Jnr clearly received the brief and his hostile opening spell saw Hill strike early. Rolfe provided the safe pair of hands for first wicket of Jones’ spell. Hill’s second was an early Christmas present, as Sutton’s dangerman was haplessly run out by Jones Snr in a calamitous moment of head loss. Perhaps the early signs of scoreboard pressure paying dividends? The temperature was turned up a notch when Jones Jnr clean bowled his man to make it 20-3 Sutton rallied and survived some close LBW calls as Hill looked to make the next breakthrough. Chipperton finally got his man LBW and the game was evenly poised at 51-4. Hill continued to apply pressure and the visitors were reduced to 60-5 when Rolfe held a catch from the captain. Hill were taking their catches at key moments and Hopkins continued this theme as he held on to an edge off Chipperton’s bowling to reduce Sutton to 74-6.
Smith had endured a tricky opening spell, but returned to great aplomb and quickly grabbed a wicket with his signature move: the caught and bowled! 86-7 meant that Hiill were in a reasonable position, but overs were still on the side of Sutton if they could ride out the onslaught. Rolfe was entrusted with the ball as Sutton staved off the threat of Subramanium and Jacobs. He duly delivered and emulated Smith’s alacrity in grabbing a sharp caught and bowled opportunity to dismiss Sutton’s remaining dangerman, who had recently notched his half-century.
The competitive spirit was alive and well in the middle – nerves started to fray as the outcome still remained very much in the balance. In a shocking and unforeseen turn of events, Hopkins was very much in the centre of the fracas following a close run out call that went in the favour of the visitors. Inexplicably, Hill looked to have loosened their grip on proceedings and Sutton edged closer to pulling off what had looked to be an unlikely victory.
Sutton went into the final over needing 4 runs for victory and with 2 wickets in the hutch. Rolfe made the perfect start to the over by bowling their visiting skipper, who looked to end the contest in one lusty blow. His 34 off 32 had turned the tide of the contest, but was it a case of too little to late? The number 11 managed to keep out the second ball of the over before scampering home for a bye off the 3rd. Sutton required 3 runs from the final three balls. However, Sutton celebrations had commenced on the sideline, with the set batsman on strike. Ripples of applause broke out as he swiped the ball towards long-off, but stunned silence soon followed as Chipperton steamed in from the boundary and held a diving catch to spark jubilant scenes!
Player of the match – Sponsored by Nicholls Residential = Zack Rolfe
Park Hill Cricket Club 