On what was the third day of what has become the infamous fourth test match, the President’s XI made their way down to South Wimbledon, perhaps hoping to fare better than England were at the time. Despite a heavy shower, the match went ahead and Salix were put into bat.
It was an excellent start for the Presidents, with Rickman and Rayner falling to Khalid and Praba in the first two overs, leaving Salix at 2-2. Thanks to the rain, the pitch had slowed up somewhat, and Salix were having difficulty scoring their runs quickly, and had been reduced to 26-4.
Lumsden managed to steady the ship slightly, scoring 24 before being caught by Will on the boundary from Guy’s bowling, and from a relatively good position of 44-4, Salix found themselves at 56-7, with wickets for Ravi (Padmore 8 and Harvey 0) and Danish (Shaw 9) who also contributed two express bullets to run out Chris and Fletcher. Praba had also taken the earlier wicket of Henig, and though some big hitting from Ellis pushed the score to 76-8 then 99-9, Salix were eventually bowled out for 105, with two wickets each for Khalid, Praba and Ravi, and one each for Guy and Danish, not including his run outs.
It was a good performance in the field by the Presidents, with eight of the ten wickets falling from either catches or run-outs. It would seem that this confidence engendered itself at the start of the President’s innings, with Danish making a blistering start, to race to 22, before being run out by Chris.
It is perhaps true to say that the Presidents became a little unstuck here. Lumsden, whose short run up but powerful delivery terrorised the batsmen, took the wicket of Mike to leave the position slightly more precarious. Khalid also looked as if he would post a big score, but was caught from Padmore’s bowling for 14, and the wickets of Ravi, Praba and Raheel all fell to Lumsden’s bowling, and the target changed from Snowdon to Everest. Jay gave hope, with 17, before he was taken in a similar fashion to Khalid, again off Padmore’s bowling; but after this, a capitulation meant the Presidents were bowled out for 82.
Despite the outcome of the match, it was played in excellent spirit, and was enjoyed by all. Thanks should go to Will for doing the food for tea and Jay for solving the kettle crisis, though perhaps a secret ingredient should have been added in the face of defeat.
|