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CCNSW 178 (A Zell 3/25; N Goradia 2/24; P Manoharan 2/28; M Toal 2/29P Mesar 1/31; N Garling 0/23; S Geyer 0/11) defeated OICC 9/169 (M Toal 58*; S Geyer 49*)
While we all love winning, there are 2 or 3 sides when it is most enjoyable, and CCNSW is one of those.
Unfortunately it was not to be on what was the worst wicket we have played on, possibly ever – Camperdown.
We got off to a pretty good start and had them 3/56 in the 17th, with Paulie Manoharan (2/28) picking up both openers & Rav Goradia (2/24) their No 3. They put on another 35 before Paul Mesar (1/31) took the 4th wicket to have them 4 for 91 in the 22nd.
Zelly bowled an excellent 6 over spell of 0/17.
At 5/104 in the 27th with 1 in the bank and another on the way, a score of 200+ was looking imminent.
2 good partnerships for them, with Garlo (0/23 off 2) saw them get to 5/150 with 8 to go.
Captain Thomas made the decision to bring Zelly back into the attack, and this proved crucial. He had 2 overs to go and we had to bowl 4 more from his end. Zelly picked up 3 for 8 in his 2 remaining overs to finish with 3/25, leaving Steve Sloth Geyer (0/11 off 1), who hadn’t bowled for nigh on 15 to 20 years, to possibly have to bowl 2 overs at the death.
Thankfully Mr Reliable, Toalie was still toiling at the other end, and he cleaned up both retirees, both bowled, finishing with 2/29 off 6.
CCNSW all out in the 38th for 178. An excellent end result and great bowling effort.
On a diabolical pitch – 5 bowled and 3 LBWs, CCNSW were reasonably confident, and felt we’d get nowhere near 179 for victory.
180 at 4.5 runs an over – very achievable.
We were always just behind the required run-rate, but only needed to go deep towards the 40 overs and we were in with a chance.
Unofrtunately, at the 20 over mark we were 6 for 87, requiring 92 off 20. Guest showing Bill McKay (6), Bomber McKenzie (9), Rav Goradia (12) Zell (2), Garlo (2) & Mesar (0) – 3 bowled & 3 LBWs with a few rolling at ankle height and some very ordinary umpiring to boot left us in a big hole.
Captain Thomas (13) provided some staunch backbone partnering Steve Sloth Geyer, who got to 30 and in the shed, and then partnering , Toalie, who continued where Sloth finished off, and also got into the shed on 33, with 3 consecutive boundaries.
At this stage we were 6/108 off 26, requiring 71 off 14. 5 an over with 3 quality batsmen, Thomas, Geyer & Toal still around. We lost then lost Paulie Manoharan (0) and Dave McKay (0) in 2 balls. 8/113, with Steve Geyer (49*) returning to partner Captain Thomas.
Pete Thomas (13) fell in the 30th over, bringing Toalie back to crease. 9/121 in the 30th, requiring 58 off 10.5 overs.
Toalie (58*) produced possibly his best OICC innings, and incidentally his highest score for OICC, while at the other end Sloth Geyer (49*) found his groove in only his 2nd outing – a welcome addition to the OICC family.
They both batted excellently, and took us deep taking 43 off the next 9 overs. We needed 15 off the last over, but the minefield of a pitch was restricting us to being unable to lift the ball for boundaries, and singles were about the best we could get, other than a brilliant 6 to Sloth and a 4 to Toalie in the 2nd and 3rd last overs. Since returning to the crease, Sloth took 11 singles, a 2 and a 6, while Toalie, 15 singles, a 4 and 3 x 2s.
They both batted brilliantly on a terrible deck.
We were hopeful they could bring us home, but only 5 off the last over was achievable.
We fell 10 short – 9/169, with no batsman playing a genuinely poor shot – 3 bowled, 5 LBWs in our innings, and 4 bowled, 3 LBWs in theirs.