Venturers vs Bill Owen
Wednesday 8th August 2007
Author: Ian Gillard
Won by 2 wickets. Bill Owen 266 Venturers 267-8
In Duncan’s final game for the Venturers the weather was very bright and we took the field against Bill Owen with the ambition of giving him a good send-off. Unfortunately the ground was small and our fielding blew hot and cold against a very capable batsman – long since recovered from the jet lag he suffered in a previous encounter. The scoreless early wickets of Bill Owen himself to Duncan and the number 3 to Chintan, meant the first 8 overs were very cheap indeed and both bowled maidens early on.
In fact 4 maidens were bowled in the first 10, but Kevin replaced Duncan and struggled with his length and when Simon came on he also suffered at the hands of the good batsman. The latter may be used to scoring big runs as suggested by his muted celebration of each milestone, but his partner hung in with him for a half century too and the pressure told on us. Some highly uncharacteristic fielding errors crept in but no chances went down and the hitting remained clean throughout. Eventually the less prolific of the batsmen fell to Kevin via a good catch by Simon with his heels bare inches from the boundary and the sun awkwardly behind the ball and we thought we might run through them with 2 more wickets falling quickly to Duncan in his second spell. This hope faded though and although none of the other batsmen even made double figures we just couldn’t get the good batsman out and he did the damage. We nearly got him early on when Chintan and Duncan both sent several deliveries past the edge but luck wasn’t with us and several shots from both their scoring batsmen landed between fielders.
Duncan and Chintan both bowled their 8 overs very well, with 2 maidens each. Duncan conceded just 24 runs with his 3 wickets and Chintan conceded 27 with a wicket of his own. Simon was very expensive initially but recovered well and went for only 31 from his 6 overs in the end. Rob B sent down a decent spell particularly considering both batsmen had their eyes in and his 5 overs went for 39. Nirmal, Kevin and Paul W all bowled some good balls but strayed too often and all went for 10 an over.
At tea Duncan was given a wide berth and with good reason – the opener had batted the entire match and scored a massive 171 without once offering a chance. We had given away plenty of runs in fielding errors and compounded the problem, but Alistair remained optimistic and felt we could take the game on – although we rather assumed it was due to his relative inexperience of playing for the Venturers. Duncan was presented with a picture of Bath Abbey to thank him for his service to the Venturers and the tasty tea cheered us a little, although it could be said that the mood generally was hardly confident, as 171 was the highest single innings score anyone could remember seeing.
Roger and Paul padded up and Duncan was persuaded to take the number 3 berth in his final game on a really good pitch that hardly misbehaved at all and gave some good, true bounce. The run rate needed to be around 8 an over for most of the game which was a big ask, but Roger and Paul looked comfortable early on despite their opener starting with 2 maidens. He went for just 2 off his first 4 overs, but his partner was more expensive. Unexpectedly it was his slower partner who got the breakthrough with the score 27 in the 6th over as Paul chipped a simple catch to square leg. Apparently he was under the impression it was a no-ball and was trying to lob the field, but fatally no-one else thought it was and he had to go for only 2, despite looking in good touch.
Duncan and Roger then set about building a partnership and put on 45 for the next wicket which included several boundaries and lasted 8 overs. The wicket to fall was Duncan’s who was caught off the first change bowler who had been suffering bowling some decent spin, and it was actually a really good shot from Duncan that went low but straight to a fielder. It took a while to work out if he had actually caught it as he tumbled a little and stayed down for a few moments but to his own surprise more than anyone’s he found he still had the ball and Duncan had to go for 13, returning to a standing ovation from a grateful team. Ian was next in at 4, but had spectacularly broken his own bat in the previous day’s net session and was generously allowed to use Fluffy’s Woodworm which he quickly found to his liking taking only 3 scoring shots to find the boundary. Roger had been finding things quite agreeable, scoring at a good rate but while he suggested he was suddenly finding the boundary shots somehow harder to get away it didn’t slow the run rate, which had pushed from 5.6 an over up to 10 an over. Roger eventually went for 44, caught at cover off a slowish bowler to his obvious frustration. The run rate was rather steadied by Ian striking 3 boundaries in 3 balls off the same bowler in the first over of the partnership with Alistair, but Alistair himself was in no mood to hang around and his first 2 scoring shots also passed the boundary flags. The partnership continued until the 26th over, and lasted long enough for Ian to fulfil Roger’s prediction during their time at the crease and complete his first half century, bringing a raised bat and smile. Soon after Alistair was given out LBW for 13, falling to their centurion bowling left-arm seam over the wicket to the left hander, but the two partnerships had set a firm platform from which to launch our attack in the last 10 overs.
Fluffy replaced Alistair and kindly offered to use Alistair’s bat rather than his own, but Ian was suddenly unable to play his normal straight-bat shots and found himself slogging and missing against a slowish medium pacer. As Fluffy came in Ian predicted his wicket would fall soon and after a final boundary a simple straight ball hit the stumps and Fluffy’s bat was returned to its rightful owner with thanks. Ian returned to the pavilion top scoring with 66 and the match was poised to go either way, with just one more solid partnership needed to get us within reach.
Kevin strode out with the score 163-4 in the 26th and the run-rate needing to remain over 7 an over. This was hard to maintain though as the fielding tightened a bit and the bowling was harder to get away. Fluffy supported well for 5 overs but was then out unexpectedly glancing the finest edge to the keeper trying to run the ball to 3rd man. Chintan had been fidgeting on the boundary focussing himself and after a heart-stopping edge past the keeper his partnership with Kevin took solid root with both hitting sixes to move the score to 241 in the 36th over, when Kevin fell for 29 bowled by a good ball from the day’s top scorer.
After 20 overs we had needed 154 but with 4 overs to go there was suddenly only 25 to get and with Chintan in fine form we felt nervously optimistic. Rob B went out with instructions to support Chintan and he did a good job, staying with him for 2 overs while the score advanced at more than 10 an over with boundaries from both batsmen. Rob was removed by the one-man run machine for 7 and Simon went in and saw off the final ball from the danger-man, which was also the last of his spell capping a pretty useful day with 3 wickets for 42 runs off his 8 overs. Now there is always the danger that a team will choke with the tension high and the target so close but Chintan kept a cool head and a boundary brought the scores level halfway through the penultimate over. The field crowded in to save the single and Chintan elected to take a quick single which saw a very close shout for a run-out at the striker’s end. Roger gave it a long look but turned it down with the wicket keeper obscuring his view of the stumps when the bails were removed and Simon putting in a full dive. We still had Nirmal who had reluctantly padded up at the death, and that combined with having more than an over left to bowl meant the decision was academic anyway, but this slight controversy prevented the eagerly awaited huge cheer from the boundary and meant a slightly lower-key finish to a really entertaining match. An exultant team clapped Chintan in finishing just short of a well deserved 50, and we all headed for the pub to celebrate a brilliant run-chase and congratulate Duncan on a final Venturers win. I suspect this win ranks among the best in his time here, made all the sweeter by being the last, and it must surely be one of the largest successful run-chases by the team in many a year, chasing 266 to win. Hopefully the win will leave him with fond memories of his cricketing in Bath and he leaves the team on a high note that was summed up succinctly by Fluffy and Alistair over laughter and a beer-garden pint afterwards with Bill Owen.
We rock.