The 2's completed their league season with a
comprehensive victory against a depleted Middlesex Tamils
side,on Twickenham Green.
On winning the toss,and with only pride to
play for,skipper Paul Johnson had no hesitation in batting
first.This was also swayed by the fact that only 4 of the oppo
were here at the start time,with the final tally being 9!
Openers Scott Perry and Eddie Paxton started
in confident mood,with Perry in particular,making full use of
the gaps in the field with some impressive boshes over mid on
and mid off.
The scoreboard was racing along,with the 50
coming up in only the 9th over.
Paxton,who'd been playing 2nd fiddle to the
destructive Perry,tried some big shots of his own,but eventually
missed a straight one from Niro and was bowled for 17.
This brought Stuart Amos to the crease,and he
was happy to let Perry continue to flay away,by giving him the
strike.
The South African allrounder,yes....
allrounder!!,steamed to his 2nd consecutive 50 in only the 16th
over.Thoughts from the pavilion were of a BIG hundered as 4's
and 6's went to all parts.It came as a big disapointment
then,when he skied a loopy full toss off Indika,who'd switched
from seam up to Murali type offspin,to probably the only fielder
who could catch at mid on.He made an excellent 88,and underlined
his true potential as a batsman.
When your facing a score of 135 for 2 off only
25 overs,the last person you want to see striding to the crease
is Dave 'Butcher' Barton.But it wasn't to be the tall Kiwis
day,as a mix up with Amos,lead him to be run out for 4.
Amos had been quietly going about his
business,timing the ball nicely into the gaps.He was joined by
Simon Hawley,and these two started to punish the tiring visitors
by hitting the ball all around the vast open spaces of The
Green.
Amos eased passed his half century,and it
wasn't long before the hundered partnership came up.Hawley
looked certain to become the third half centurian of the
afternoon,until he was impressively caught and bowled by Indika
for 47.
Amos steamed through the 70's and 80's,despite
being dropped a couple of times.And it was now just a matter
of batting on long enough to allow the burly left hander to
reach his maiden ton.
Jimmy Liebenberg,Fraser Donaldson and Ritchie
Saunders all went cheaply for the cause.But the exhausted Amos
finally reached his milestone,with the score on 282 for 7.
It was an excellent innings,and would lead to
much revelry later in the evening!
After the usual excellent tea,Twickenham
opened up with Liebenberg and Saunders.
The Tamils opened up with Indika and Niro,the
two opening bowlers.And it soon became apparant that Indika
wasn't going to hang around,boshing three quick bounderies over
the top.It wasn't long though before he was back inthe hutch,as
a clever slower ball from Liebenberg saw him chip the ball to
Dave Barton at extra cover.
The inevitable 'pack of cards' then happened
as wickets tumbled.Saunders picked up 2,one LBW and the other
well caught by Paul Johnson.Liebenberg got another,brilliantly
stumped by Matt Bendelow.
Chris Marshall and Johnson then came into the
attack.And the game only lasted another 4 overs.Marshall picked
up 2 wickets,one well caught by Barton at deep square leg,and
the other stumped by Bendelow.And Johnson got one,well caught by
Liebenberg running back at mid on.
The final total was 80 all out,with T's
winning by a massive 202 runs.
So another season of 'what might have been'
has come to an end.Although a final position of 3rd is not
bad,we all know that this talented squad should have won this
league,even despite the disruptions we've had.
All it leaves me to say is thanks to everyone
who's played in the 2's this year,and let's hope we can finish
the job off next season!
