Sunday 28th July

Match Report

With the sun shining and the village looking resplendent on a warm summer’s afternoon the mighty Lavant welcomed Walberton. After a great win earlier in the season the home team were expecting a reaction from Walberton who undoubtedly were looking for revenge.

As both sides arrived it did feel like a David VS Goliath situation with many of the Lavant players arriving more interested in knowing when tea was so they could get stuck into the drizzle compared to the Walberton crack unit of fine young specimens who looked like they had just come from a Chichester training camp doing star jumps and drinking protein shakes. 

However….one thing you can never underestimate with the mighty Lavant is age…sorry typo…I mean experience!

At the toss the home skipper (once AGAIN) won the toss and elected to bat hoping the long batting line up could post a decent total.

GAME ON!

Disaster struck in the first over after the Lavant skipper (who didn’t’ go through with the shot) hit a low full toss which was smartly grabbed by a tall Walberton fielder at mid off). 

After this set back Joe (who was making his Sunday debut) was joined by Fraser (who was also making his Sunday debut) who both got stuck into their work quickly pouncing on anything full and dispatching to the boundary. Unfortunately both fell in a similar fashion as the Lavant skipper being guilty of not quite going through with the shot and holing out. Joe left the middle with 19 and Fraser 8.

In came Will and Steve who steady the ship calmly looking to rebuild against the barrage of young fast bowlers. Both men had to work hard for their runs considering there weren’t many loose deliveries on offer and having to find a way through the youthful ring field who seemed able to stop anything hit within 2 metres of them.

When the change of pace came Will tried desperately to get the scoreboard moving but tragically missed timed his shot and holed out to a smart catch in the deep for 26.

Enter Bryan (who finally made his debut after having missed out twice with games called off) and was certainly not going to die wondering with some serious bat speed and finally was able to settle his nerves smacking away his first runs for six. There was certainly a lot of hockey in his batting but after dispatching another ball to the boundary fell for 11 but was willing to try and push on the scoreboard for the team.

Entering the final hour of the game Chris and Phil were outfoxed by the Walberton spinner and the Lavant innings was looking desperate. Thankfully Lavant had a solid ‘insurance policy’ in the form for Richard who, like any good service man was happy to follow orders from the skipper, saluted and marched out to the middle (or in his mind the square).

At the other end was Steve who was going about his business in his normal fashion. We spoke before the game about how important I see Steve’s role in the batting line up with him being solid and going about his business to hold the innings together. I can’t stress how important Steve’s innings was in the context of the game and did exactly what was asked of him by rotating the strike and being the glue that held the batting line up together. Thankfully this week Steve was able to get a much deserved 50 to his name….although there was a rumour that he just stayed out there so he didn’t have to put out his tea….

With both men able to steady the ship the scoreboard looked light of runs however in a fortuitous moment Walbteron decided once again to unleash their young quicks in a hope of breaking through but this played into the hands of Richard and Steve who both showed their class being able to line up both seem bowlers and started to find the boundary. This final flurry helped nudge the Lavant score to 163 which did still feel short of being a par score but competitive enough that it could give the Lavant bowlers something to work with.

Many Lavant players were waiting (and salivating) at the thought of Steve’s tea and getting their mouths around his drizzle which I was told was just as good as ever!

Lavant took (well waddled) to the field looking to start strong with the ball and keep things tight and look to build pressure in the hope of securing another amazing win….

…..but….it didn’t quite go that way. Walberton took off in a blistering assault and were dispatching anything loose (and some good balls) to the boundary. With the team desperately looking for control nothing seemed to be able to stop the haemorrhaging of runs with poor Chris taking the brunt of the punishment. I blame the tea…..

James C was able to stop the rot by bundling out two of the top order bats (who both seemed to be keen to finish the game in a hurry) clean bowling them both.

However the runs kept flowing fast and the Lavant skipper quickly shuffled his bowling attack bringing Ian R into the attack who also tried desperately to keep things tight but the Walberton batters just found a way of picking up runs. Thankfully Ian did manage to find a breakthrough picking up a crucial wicket (with a solid catch taken by Bryan)!

With the game moving into the final 20 over stage the rapid scoring had allowed Walberton only needing around 40 / 50 runs for what seemed an inevitable win.

With the last throw of the dice the Lavant skipped turned to Will and Richard in the hope of making a crucial break through with the hope to then attack the Walberton tail.

And the turning point came. The ‘King’ picked up the first critical wicket of the Walberton opener (who had done most of the damage) clean bowling him 1 short of his 50.

Next Richard manage to outfox #4 batter (who was equally set and looking to slog sweep everything) teasing him wider and wider to toe end / top edge the ball up in the air to be caught behind.

At the other end Will did what Will does. Bowling tight lines and lengths and drying things up offering nothing easy to hit. Frustration started to creep into the batting and Will was able to enforce a mistake from one batter being caught by Fraser (another smart grab) and clean bowling another breaking through the middle order!

Suddenly the sombre mood of Lavant was lifted and with the door open to attack the Walberton tail the Lavant skipper rallied the troops and asked everyone to work hard and give everything they had in a push for the final wickets. 

And what a moment came……in an act of frustration the Walberton #8 looked to hammer Richard through the covers where Ian R threw himself smartly to his right and grab a low down, blinding one handed catch and celebrate wildly running around so much that know one could keep up with him!! 

With the team on a high the game was still finely in the balance. With Walberton 9, 10 and 11 left Lavant only needed 2 wickets for an amazing win. However, Walberton only needed 20 runs to get over the line. 

The Lavant skipper put his trust in his bowers and fielding unit and went for the win. I think Richard would be the first to admit that having Will keeping things so tight at the other end was a crucial part of the bowling partnership and was able to capitalise on. Both men showed incredible control and bowling skill under pressure and dovetailed together so well to deliver when the team needed them the most.

The King was able to give the last remaining batters their matching orders – cleaning bowling #9 and #10 which led to an amazing win.

Man of the match goes to Will / Richard for a bowling partnership that not only swung the game back into our favour but were able to get us over the line (but a special mention must go to Steve’s innings).

Champagne moment goes to Ian R for a truly special catch considering how close he was and how hard the ball was hit….the ball was behind him and if he had stopped it that would have been something but to stick out a paw and haul it in (given the context of the game) was amazing.

It was great to yet again see the ‘never say die’ attitude from the mighty Lavant. I don’t think anyone could quite believe it. Was great to see some tired but satisfied faces at the pub after the game.

On to the next!