Played at Victoria Park, pitch 2 Report by Tim Castle
The opening match of the season was a game that proved
the adage that catches win matches and dropped catches lose them.
With the Fallopians batting first, Jack Holmes survived
three catching chances before finally being caught after knocking up
a vital 40 runs.
In contrast two tremendous OF catches
removed the foundations of the opposition's batting reply before
they had a chance to get going. Jack Wright calmly held a massive
skied shot at the mid-on boundary which took an age to return
towards earth. Philip Barrass's catch was even more impressive,
securing the ball at a run.
At the end the match was wrapped up with
another catch, a snick taken behind by Jack Turner, with the
Wolverine batsman sportingly walking despite the umpire (TC)
hesitating to raise his finger.
The Fallopians had set a
target of 122 for their Division Three rivals, with an innings that
also included knocks of 27 from Turner and 16 from Matt Wake. Extras
also contributed with a useful 28, of which 16 were wides.
Wolverines in reply recovered from their shaky start, which saw
their numbers two and three dismissed for 1 and 4 respectively by
Wright and Barrass's catches.
Soon the Wolves were
confidently amassing runs and after eight overs looked like they had
the game wrapped up after reaching 98
for the loss of 4 wickets, with dangerman Dougie Gordon going strong
on 36, though they were a man short.
Luckily, OF captain Graham McGee had an ace up his sleeve and
brought
back opening bowler Jack Holmes, who proceeded to dismiss the final
two batsmen, and win the game, with his first and fourth deliveries.
That
brought Holmes' tally for the match to 4 wickets for 23 runs,
putting him at the top of the league's 2021 bowling stats.
Mention
should also be made of Faisel Mahboob's slow-ball bamboozling of
Wolverine captain George Gibbons, who charged down the wicket only
to completely miss the ball and instead watch the looping delivery
crash into his stumps.
Jack Wright also earned a wicket after
the number 3 Nick Manser whacked the ball into Barrass's safe hands.
A great opening game with the man of the match award going
without question to the mighty Jack Holmes.
Scroll
down for full scorecard below photos.
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Beaten by pace: Jack Turner dismissed for
27 by Wolverines' speedy Robbie Martin Photo:
George Watson |
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Watching and waiting: Matt Wake poised to
run
Photo: George Watson |
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Skipper scuppered: Wolverines captain George
Gibbons turns to see his stumps clattered by Faisel Mahboob's
deceptively slow delivery
Photo: George Watson |
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Seasonal openers: (Standing L-R) Tim Castle
(umpire),
Graham McGee, Ilyas Mansha, Faisel Mahboob, Jack Wright; (kneeling L-R)
Jack Holmes, Matt Wake, Philip Barrass, Jack Turner
Photo: Jonathan Stebbins |
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Green Lantern: Part-time photographer Jonathan
Stebbins is an island of calm as the victorious Fallopians
hurry to strike camp and head for the PP Tavern.
Photo: Tim Castle |
Scorecard
Old Fallopians 121-5 (14 overs)
Jack Turner † b Robbie Martin 27
Jack Holmes c Dougie Gordon b Robbie Martin 40
Matt Wake c & b Dougie Gordon 16
Graham McGee * b Nick Manser 1
Jack Wright b Nick Manser 0
Philip Barrass not out 7
Ilyas Mansha not out 2
Extras (w 16, nb 5, b 2, lb 5) 28
Total 121
DNB: Faisel Mahboob
FOW: 67-1 Jack Holmes, 99-2 Jack Turner †, 96-3 Graham McGee *, 101-4 Jack Wright, 115-5 Matt Wake
Dougie Gordon 3-0-29-1
Harry Reilly 2-0-16-0
George Gibbons * 2-0-27-0
Nick Manser 4-0-33-2
Robbie Martin 3-0-12-2
Wolverines 111-6 (9.4 overs)
Jake Waring † b Jack Holmes 30
Charlie Stewart c Jack Wright b Jack Holmes 1
Nick Manser c Philip Barrass b Jack Wright 4
Dougie Gordon b Jack Holmes 36
George Gibbons * b Faisel Mahboob 12
Robbie Martin c Jack Turner † b Jack Holmes 17
Harry Reilly not out 1
Extras (w 10) 10
Total 111
FOW: 3-1 Charlie Stewart, 7-2 Nick Manser, 44-3 Jake Waring †, 67-4 George Gibbons *, 110-5 Dougie Gordon, 111-6 Robbie Martin
Jack Holmes 3.4-0-23-4
Jack Wright 2-0-30-1
Philip Barrass 1-0-11-0
Faisel Mahboob 2-0-25-1
Ilyas Mansha 1-0-22-0
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