Match Report

After a couple of weeks on the road the mighty Lavant returned to their home turf. The legend goes that if the team doesn’t return home at least once a month and bathe in the River Lavant then someone’s shoes will be cursed.

With the sun shining and the weather finally starting to warm up this week Lavant welcomed Arundel Castle to the field of dreams, on what was a busy Father’s day with many people stationed around the boundary (obviously turning out to catch sight of the fine Lavant cricketing specimens on show).

The two skippers walked to the middle to do the toss and the Lavant skipper lost the toss again and was asked to bat first (obviously his tossing skills were fading)!

With James C scurrying around filling up the kitchen with a repertoire of baked delights for tea the Lavant skipper had to motivate his top order to shift their focus away from cake and pad up!

Deploying the tried and tested opening partnership the Lavant skipper and Justin (who was still in the most incredible purple patch) walked to the middle looking to set a platform. Both men got stuck in early seeing off one of the opening bowlers after 3 overs with a series of lusty blows sending the ball to the boundary. 

With the scoreboard just a tick under 50 disaster struck wen the Lavant skipper (trying to work the swinging ball onto the leg side) miss timed his shot and chipped the ball up to a close midwicket out for 19.

In next was Will MC and with the ball now swinging big both he and Justin had to knuckle down mindful of seeing off the rest of the opening bowlers’ overs. Once a change of bowling came Justin pounced, dispatching one bowler for 31 from his two overs including a big six and bringing up yet another 50 for Justin and forcing the Arundel skipper to take the bowler out of the attack! 

At the other end Will MC was being watchful and finding his way into his innings with intelligence. Getting a measure of the pitch and bowling, picking off singles to get Justin back on strike (allowing the man in form to face more deliveries) and looking to build up a big partnership. 

At drinks the hard work had been done by both batters and the platform was set to push on and go big to get the team up to an insurmountable first innings total. 

After drinks Will and Justin (knowing there was plenty of batting in the hutch to come) got down to business going after the Arundel bowlers and putting pressure back on the bowling unit. Arundel responded by deploying their tall quick in an attempt to stop the flow of runs.

With the tall quick getting plenty of lift from the surface the runs started to dry up at one end so Will and Justin relied on attacking the other end with aplomb to make sure the run rate didn’t stall. Both looked to charge down the track many a time to wallop the ball to the fence (sending many spectators scrambling).

With the game entering its final stages the chat from the middle was that the game had entered ‘everything must go’ territory and someone had to take on the tall Arundel quick bowler. Will lashed one delivery like a bullet to the fence to register his (much deserved) 50 for the innings. 

At the other end Justin continued to push and, in his normal selfless manner, was happy to throw caution into the wind. After trying (what felt like) 20 different ways in his tool box of clubbing away the Arundel bowler Justin seemed to get down to the last tool in his tool box…..it was a brand new tool….never been brought out before until now…

….yes Justin’s thought process had taken him from running down the track, to going back deep in his crease, to having a big moo, to arriving at….A RAMP SHOT!

This first didn’t quite go as planned (bringing gasps from the crowd) sailing past him to the keeper. With the crowd getting restless I’m sure I heard someone shout ‘just hit it you muppet’ but no…Jos Murry was not having it and on the second attempt made connection and ramped the ball through the vacant gap at fine leg for 4!! Undeterred he tried again but alas missed and with the ball just missing the top of his stumps decided to put the ramp back into the tool box….

Being bouyed by this achievement seemed to kick Justin into action and, going back to more orthodox shots, really started to motor with bullet-like strokes flying off his middle to all parts including a monster six straight down the ground to register another 100 for the season! 

With the game moving into the final over Justin decided to run out his batting partner knowing it would give Will a chance to take the applause from his team mates and give him time to rest up ready for a bowl later. A genius move. Will was run out for a critical 69 sharing a match defining 169 run partnership with Justin.

Next was Manni making his Lavant debut. It’s never easy coming to the middle in the last over of an innings looking to tee off from ball one. Selfishley Manni tried to get going, crushing an amazing shot into the covers but finding a fielder. Next up (maybe showing a bit of rustyness) he was through the shot so early only managing to hit the ball onto his helmet (and damaging the visor in the process) but was able to scramble to the non-strikers end closing out the innings and allowing Justin to carry his bat for an amazing knock of 116 not out. 

Lavant finished their innings 219 for 2 with the focus now turned to the bowlers to defend.

Tea was taken, home made goods were unpacked and an extra teeny tiny child sized banana was eaten (thank you James). I think ‘The Slayer’ must have confiscated it from one of his many batting victims!

Knowing there were several big hitters to come in the opposition line up the Lavant team returned to the field looking to remain disciplined with their bowling.

First up was the club’s premier opening bowling. Jean Claude ‘Van Tram’ has been in great form recently and delivered the goods once more. Gliding to the crease and firing down deliveries that were hitting the keeper’s gloves hard. Setting the tone from ball one his first over was a maiden. Tam continued to give nothing easy to the opening batters piling pressure onto their frustrations of not being able to score freely. In his 6th over he was richly rewarded from his spell of bowling, forcing a mistake from the Arundel #1 into taking a thick edge caught behind by the keeper. Closing out his spell with a maiden Tam finished with 1 – 13 from his 7 over spell. For context (and the badgers out there) that’s an economy of 1.86! Great work again Tambo.

At the other end it was a more mixed affair. James ‘The Slayer’ clean bowled the other opener in his first over (completing a wicket maiden) however after such a great start found it hard to hold his line and was punished accordingly by the Arundel batters and was pulled out of the attack after 4 overs to be saved for later in the match.

Replacing James was Peter (a second debutante of the day) who got into his work quickly. Giving the ball flight he bowled attacking lines and certainly looked to give it a tweak (finding a good amount of turn in his first couple of overs). Peter was able to offer control to the Lavant skipper and keep things tight whilst challenging the edge of the bat. Peter slightly faded (which was understandable) finishing with 0 – 45 from his 7 over spell.

At the other end the Lavant skipper turned to Kier. With the team looking for control of the game the Lavant skipper was hoping the Prime Minister would show the required leadership. After going for a big six in his first over a U-turn was considered but the Lavant skipper held firm. With the threat of taking his winter allowance away from him the ‘PM’ got down to business and rattled off ball after ball on a length and extracted a nip from the surface, stalling the runs. Like Peter it was understandable that Keir started to fade near the end of his spell and was taken out of the attack with highly respectable figures of 0 – 21 from his 5 overs. Someone should put him in charge of something…

At the other end Manni was brought into the attack and had a tough job on his hands. With Arundel’s run rate increasing the batters had started to push and a combination of ultra-attacking batting and a bit of  rustyness Manni took a bit of tap and threw him off his rhythm. However he was well rewarded by slipping in a surprise yorker and clean bowling the set #3 batter! Manni finished with 1 – 32 from his 3 overs.

James C returned to the fold with the team needing him to keep things in check with the Arundel batters looking to go all out attack. It was a great return to the attack for James who was able to prize out the other set #4 batter getting him to chip the ball up to the safe hands of Keir. James finished with 2 – 40 from his 7 over spell.

With the run rate up near 10 Lavant, with an eye on the scoreboard, knew that nothing was won yet and one bad over could turn the match. What was required is now going to be known as the ‘double Will’ with the Lavant skipper dispatching Will T at one end and Will MC at the other tasked with seeing out the match.

Both delivered!

Will T kept things tight with his normal deliveries finding bounce off the track making it hard for the batters to force the pace. After two solid overs his third looked like it could be dicey with the dangerous Arundel #5 starting to launch the ball with some big hits. Will ‘Merv’ T kept his cool and suddenly remembered the plan to bowl to his field forcing the Arundel #5 to cloth a ball straight to the very safe hands of Justin who gobbled it up at deep extra cover! Picking up the prized wicket Will ‘Merv’ T finished 1 – 23 from his 3 overs.

At the other end Will MC was reining in the Arundel #6 batter who was also looking to moo anything away to cow corner. Deciding that it was too much hard work Will decided it would be better to just clean bowl the batters at the other end. First ripping through the defences of the #7 and then removing the #8 with the final ball of the day. Will finished with 2 – 17 from his 3 overs and took Lavant home for a great win with Arundel finishing with 195 – 7 and unable to chase down the total in their 35 overs.

A win of 24 runs was probably a little closer than hoped but it was a great game with everyone contributing. A full team performance personified particularly by Harry who wasn’t able to bat or bowl but really set the tone in the field chasing down everything hard. Also a special mention for Manni who seemed to have been employed by Will MC as his ‘ball butler’, grabbing everything that came within 50 metres of him! 

Man of the match goes to Will and Justin. Yes Justin’s 100 was brilliant and a great achievement (during a season of great achievements) however batting is about partnerships which normally win games. After the platform being set, Will and Justin weathered the storm of the swinging ball, got themselves in and accelerated when needed and faced down some decent bowling to post a match winning score.

Champagne moment goes to Justin for the ramp. I don’t think I need to say anymore! 

Great win and most pleasing of all great team effort. On to the next!