It was with cold hands and warm spirits that the Plastics entered the bronze medal match of the Barn Elms T20 tournament 2019 against the cricketingly-titled “Clapham In”, refreshed by a between-game Starbucks run and a new player in the form of Billy, who answered the last minute sounding of the Plastics conch.
After losing the toss (!) and again bowling, tight opening lines from “his name’s John but write down Papa...yes, that’s right, Sergeant Pepper” and BishopP saw the pressure build, and early wickets came in the form of an outrageous tumbling boundary catch from Jerry, and an outrageous-er effort from Billy with a backwards-running-one-hander at mid-off. Not to be out-done, Jerry took up the bowling mantle and quickly had the opposition on toast (no doubt served alongside some goose terrine sourced from the nearby wetlands centre), taking 4-14 from his opening 3 overs. Sensing a quick conclusion to the innings with the score at 50-7 (as the scoreboard showed, turns out it was actually 50-6), Captain Webb summoned Jamieson for a final over to FINISH THE JOB, however despite excellent lines he wasn’t able to and returned to prowl the boundary with figures of 4-20. AND THEN IT BEGAN. What may well be a record partnership for the 7th wicket at this ground between these two teams, Clapham-ites Frecknall and Clack put on a well-paced unbroken partnership of 104, with only a drop on the boundary and a few top edges providing close calls. Their umpires also didn’t seem to know the differences between wides and no-balls, depriving the baying crowd the chance to see a few ever-entertaining Free Hits (naming rights still available). Required score: 155. The interval saw threats to the team from star turn Jamieson, should the Plastics not give away any run-out chances during the chase, and Captain Webb similarly promising thunder if the Plastics XI ended up having 3 wickets remaining but not reaching the target. With those words ringing in their ears, the opening partnerships set about running hard and gaining the Bronze. A first-ball 4 saw BishopR at the other end declaring the Plastics were well ahead of the required run rate, and he quickly sought to correct this by seeing out a maiden in the second over, before departing caught. Mortimer was unlucky to chip to short cover shortly afterwards, which brought in Webster for a bit of slap and giggle alongside Gillan. 28 runs followed, before the latter earned one of the Jamieson-demanded runouts, leaving 100 required to win from 13 overs. A fabbo partnership between late call-up Billy and Webster saw power hitting and quick running apiece. As the skin of the Plastics bronzed in the Barnes sun (sort of), the chances of a glorious tournament bronze also grew, and despite losing Billy LBW with another 30 required, Anderson and Webster could sniff the metallic scent of victory. A free hit allowed Webster to pull off a delightful JerryScoop and finish on 63* off notverymany balls, before Anderson smote a mighty six over square-leg to seal the victory.
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THE TEAMFormed from a collection of players who met on the internet via social cricket at Archbishop's Park, Plastics XI represents the foolhardy members of that group who decided they wanted a bash at proper cricket instead of playing with plastic balls. The team's ability is best described as "weak-weak". Luckily, our social media game is much stronger. Find us on: Archives
October 2021
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