Match Report
With the weather forecast improving in the preceding days, the Skipper was confident that the worst had passed through in the morning and an uninterrupted afternoon of cricket lay ahead.
Scheduled Oppo Sutton Benger had unusually been unable to raise a team and so, as has happened so often in the past, Beehive stepped in at the last minute to provide Wilcot with the opportunity of maintaining their winning form.
This would be the third time Wilcot have faced Beehive this season. The first Sunday game brought about a comprehensive victory for Wilcot. The second, a mid-week T20, saw Wilcot lose a game they really should’ve won (lost with three runs were required, three overs to spare & three wickets in hand!!) and so Wilcot were keen to clinch this deciding contest and put right the disaster from earlier in the season.
The Skipper lost the toss and was put into the field choosing the youthful duo of Jack Cox and Josh Evans to open the bowling. Both bowled economically but with few chances coming Wilcot’s way, the Skipper tossed the ball to Jonathan Evans in the 9th in order to try and bring about a breakthrough. The tactic worked as Jonathan clean bowled Beehive’s opener with his fifth delivery adding to a fine opening over, a wicket maiden, leaving Beehive 29-1.
The two Evans’ (Josh & Jonathan) continued but with no further chances coming, another bowling change brought Nick Milne into the attack replacing Jonathan coming down the hill.
Opportunities came (& went….mostly through fielders fingers) and at drinks, Wilcot were still searching for the elusive second wicket with Beehive’s second opener Roach now looking well set (68-1).
With nothing going to hand, Nick Milne swapped the bails, Stuart Broad like, as play resumed after drinks hoping that this might change Wilcot’s fortunes.
Amazingly, Nick’s firth delivery of the following over induced a top edge with the Skipper taking the catch at Mid On to take Wilcot’s next wicket (79-2). Whilst v. welcome it wasn’t the scalp of the inform Roach. Nevertheless, Wilcot battled on and were rewarded in the following over when Konrad produced a peach of a delivery sending Beehive’s No. 4 Stepp back to the club house (92-3).
Nick & Konrad continued to plug away but with Roach now finding the boundary with a little more frequency, the Skipper brought himself on bowling up the hill to see if another bowling change would induce more wickets. Again, the tactic worked with another wicket falling though by now Beehive had advanced the score to 140 in the 28th.
The introduction of young (13) Malachi Kruger into the attack helped to restrict Beehive’s scoring. Bowling a nagging line, he was rewarded with an excellent take by Konrad at slip to give Malachi a very well deserved first wicket for Wilcot.
As the players came off for tea, Beehive had scored 177 runs & with the ground drying out and the batting surface improving, it felt like a total that was well with Wilcot’s grasp.
Wilcot needed to start strongly to ensure the run rate remained under control and so Konrad was selected to join Mark Warburg in getting the chase underway.
The pair started well and had moved the score to 22 before Konrad was caught in the fifth over. James Cox entered the fray at 3 and just as he looked like he was getting going, he got himself out, caught in the 12th bringing the Skipper to the crease with 49 runs scored in the 13th.
The pair consolidated but with some tidy bowling the run rate slowed and Wilcot were well behind the required rate at the half way point. Furthermore, Wilcot’s exploits were further hampered when Warburg was bowled in the 17thleaving Wilcot with some work to do.
New bat Josh Evans quickly got his eye in, rotating the strike well with the Skipper and the pair bypassed the 100 mark in the 24th over giving Wilcot some cause for optimism (77 from 11….7 an over). However, Josh was caught and bowled in the 26th and Wilcot were wobbling (113-4).
Nick Milne, the new bat, tried to advance the run rate but was bowled in the process bringing, in form, Jonathan Evans to the crease.
Wilcot now had 54 runs to get from 8 overs but Beehive’s bowlers weren’t giving a huge amount away and with the pressure for runs building, the Skipper was run out, trying to squeeze a second run which wasn’t there.
Malachi Kruger was the next to bat but was undone, bowled trying to advance the run rate bringing Kruger Snr to the crease. Wilcot now needed 31 from the last three overs.
A couple of boundaries and good rotation of the strike kept Wilcot in contention until the last over but sadly, Wilcot fell 7 runs short.
This was an entertaining game played in a good spirit with Wilcot just pipped to the post in the final over.
Ulitmately, Wilcot let themselves down in the field. The old saying of catches winning matches was never more appropriate than in this game. The skipper counted at least 8 catches being put down, with at least 3 or 4 off the bat of Beehive’s main scorer Roach. Had Wilcot taken these chances, the run chase would’ve been a different proposition entirely.
Whilst not up to par in the field, Wilcot batted commendably and the fact that only 7 runs separated the two teams at the death, bears testament to this.
Big congratulations to Malachi Kruger for taking his first Wilcot wicket and my thanks to Pete Williams for preparing another superb pitch, to Beehive for stepping in at the last minute and to the Watherston clan for their help with the teas.
Wilcot return to the Old School Ground for their final game of the season on Sunday 3rd September.
| Warburg | Bowled | 38 |
| Konrad | Caught | 3 |
| Cox. James | Caught | 9 |
| Watherston. J | Run Out | 40 |
| Evans. Josh | C&B | 17 |
| Milne. N | Bowled | 1 |
| Evans. Jon | Not Out | 32 |
| Kruger. M | Bowled | 2 |
| Kruger. D | Not Out | 4 |
| Dannreuther. S | DNB | |
| Cox. Jack | DNB |
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| Cox. J | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Evans. Josh | 7 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Evans. Jon | 3 | 1 | 18 | 1 |
| Milne. N | 8 | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| Konrad | 6 | 0 | 42 | 1 |
| Watherston. J | 4 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| Kruger. M | 4 | 0 | 19 | 1 |