Plastics CC (231/6, 39.1 overs) beat South Bank CC (228-8, 40 overs) by 4 wickets.
With the skipper and another 8 members unavailable, it was a somewhat motley crew that arrived at the lovely Dulwich Sports Ground to play South Bank Cricket Club, with the rumours that this club had been going for 126 years and regularly beat the Battersea Badgers running through the inexperienced captain’s head. Continuing what is fast becoming a Plastics tradition, the toss was lost and the Plastics asked to field, which on a pitch that has got a bit of a green tinge and what looked to be a fast outfield, was what the skipper had planned to do, with the use of only one match ball being a factor in his thinking. The bowling before drinks was a bit loose, allowing the opposition to compile a reasonably quick 46 run opening stand, with the opening two overs costing 20 runs before the opener top edged a steepler off the Evil Bishop over the keeper's head and into the sometimes safe hands of Saril at fine leg. This didn’t, however, prompt a tumble of wickets, and the number three and one opener left in were able to play out the remaining overs of Pete’s spell in relative comfort, before taking on Calum to up the run rate a bit more. Matt on for a couple before lunch, but failed to make the breakthrough - or stem the run - rate and South Bank slaked their thirst after twenty overs with the score at 121/1- plenty of wickets in hand for late dash in the final 10. The stand in skipper Matt’s inspirational team talk at drinks “Well fielded lads, the bowling was a bit shit but we can pull it back, I’m keeping myself on for another couple of overs because I’m bowling well and Simon you’re taking the other end” seemed to be the boost that the Plastics needed, however. Simon kept it very tight while bowling his full allocation straight through, and with Matt getting the other opener with a ball off the glove down leg that Peter took smartly to his left, the Plastics were in with a sniff. The fielding took yet another upturn with Alex stopping everything at cover point, and timely field changes stopping a couple of boundaries when the oppositions best batsman hit the ball exactly where the fielder had just been placed- and yet that batsman was in great form and looking to accelerate, when Saril, coming in to bowl from the other end, dropped one a touch short that the batsman pulled fiercely through the now occupied midwicket area, where Matt took a pretty decent one-handed catch high above his head. The starkest contrast between pre and post drinks bowling is in the figures of Saril and Calum; before the break, they went for 0-39 and 0-31 respectively off their first 4, and for their remaining 4 they went for 2-28 and 3-23. The benefits of staying well hydrated have never been more apparent. Alex, not to be outdone, took a great catch at point, diving to his left, again off Saril’s bowling. The debate still rages on about whether he really needed the dive, and whether he could have taken it one-handed or not, but nonetheless, it was another timely wicket and the Plastics had somehow restricted the opposition to 107 runs scored in the final 20 overs, to give a chaseable target of 229 off 40. After lunch, the openers Jon, fresh from Leeds - yet decidedly unfresh after drinking the best part of two bottles of wine the previous evening - and Dom, set about seeing off the new ball bowlers. Despite their contrasting styles, with Jon playing breezily outside off for his 18 off 33 balls and once hitting a cover drive (!) that the opposition’s best batter described as “technically perfect” and Dom, all muscularity and hard hits, they formed a strong opening partnership, Jon eventually falling to the left arm spinner's varying flight and pace with the score on 57. That brought the Good Bishop in, who was just beginning to settle before unluckily falling for 1. Dom was still there, however, and with Alex at the crease, this was the time to start accelerating the run rate with a huge 6 for Dom over long off, and Alex, playing himself in circumspectly with only two 4s and one 6 in his first 10 balls. Once Dom fell for 72 off only 55 balls (how’s that for a Plastics debut?) and having been part of a 75-run stand, there was still quite a bit of work for the Plastics to do; 80 odd runs, 6 wickets remaining and 14 overs in which to reach the target, and with batsmen better known for their ability to absorb pressure than score quickly, it looked doubtful for our erstwhile pink-clad heroes. What the opposition didn’t reckon with, however, was the determination to get a result. They should have known from the efforts in the field that the Plastics wouldn’t roll over, especially once they saw that the Good Bishop, a man better known for folding himself gracefully and slowly into the turf to stop the ball than his lightning quick reactions, had produced an astonishing snap dive to nearly take the best catch of the match - maybe the season - at gully, foiled only by the speed at which the ball came as it unfortunately bounced out of his outstretched hand. All the men on the boundary for Alex couldn’t stop him scoring, as he was ably supported by Anthony, also on debut, as he scored a run a ball fifteen that felt like the beginnings of a substantial innings before it was cruelly curtailed. Enter Peter, who gamely tried to continue upping the rate despite every instinct screaming at him that cricket is a game of patience and a leave at the right time is at least as valuable as a four through the covers. Alas, this was not the right time, and Peter was out for two attempting a cut at a ball he would usually have let whizz past him with an air of unperturbed disdain. A brief, entertaining partnership between Matt and Alex ensued, with Matt demonstrating that he could play at least two more shots than the late cut, with a lovely on drive that garnered only a single, and a clip off his pads through midwicket for four that was more luck than judgement and surely will never be repeated, and to which he contributed only 1/3rd of the 30 runs put on, despite the opposition skipper having 5 men on the boundary for our young gun, who was now on “about 78”. With about 20 runs left, and Evil Bishop coming to the crease, the only words of advice offered were “Don’t get out, and give the strike to Alex”. There had been some frantic adding up on the boundary, and it was determined that if Alex scored all of the remaining runs and finished with a 4, then could end up with his second century in three matches. Your correspondent must admit it looked somewhat unlikely when Alex tried to play a very strange shot, ending up with the batter on his arse and an appeal for shoulder before wicket, but Evil Bishop belied his name, blocked out one end, and Alex went on typical run of 1 6 dot 1 4, to win the Plastics the match, scored 102* and took his average over his last three innings to a mind-boggling 287. It was a wonderful match to be a part of, with multiple swings of momentum, some great batting on both sides, a couple of stunning catches, some tight bowling, a final over finish and a win rate of about 75% for Jon, somehow. It also turned out that South Bank had never beaten the Badgers, and that the source of the rumour had been none other than the captain and chairman himself, in a sneaky demonstration of Machiavellian politics.
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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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