This was a switch of venue as the Hill were not able to mow their ground, so well done to our crew for stepping in. The Hill won the toss and elected to field first so we opened this 40 over match with Gee and Kearnsy. Alas Kearnsy perished for a golden and we were 9 for 1 off 2. This brought Cowelo to the crease and what a partnership this turned out to be, they faced 21 overs and added a brilliant 141 to the score, Cowelo being c&b for 60 in the 23rd over with Gee on 63 – 150 for 2. Joey went in next and hit his best ever score of 40 before he was caught – 237 for 3 off 33 (a partnership of 87 off 10 overs).
Rob in next and with Gee taking most of the strike the score continued to rattle along way past nosebleed territory for the Saturday team. Gee reached his ton in the 35th over with his first 6 but Rob was bowled 2 overs later for 9 – 290 for 4 off 37, leaving Tom to see out the final overs with Gee. The Wood notched up their 300 in the penultimate over and Gee reached 150 with a 4 off a no ball in the final over taking the Wood to the amazing total of 319 for 4 and carrying his bat for a fine 154 off 120 balls. Incredible figures for a Saturday and I think probably the highest score that I have marked for the Wood – beaming smiles all round at tea
Gee was obviously still in “super” mode at the start of the Hill innings as he took an amazing low down, reflex catch at slip off Tom in the first over and the Hill were 4 for 1. Kearnsy bowled the other opener in his second over – 16 for 2 off 4 and next over saw Joey juggle and then finally “catch” the ball in the crook of his arm for Tom’s second wicket – 25 for 3. Tom then claimed a wicket maiden and the Hill were 34 for 4 off 7. This began to feel very much like the “Twilight Zone” with a complete reversal in rolls but the next batsmen finally began to up the run rate. They had added 42 in just 3 overs when Joey struck in his first over, bowling their captain for 17 – 76 for 5 off 10.
Another good partnership followed but that master of spin Joe Rice, also in his first over, claimed the next victim given out LBW for 50 – 123 for 6 and two balls later bowled his partner for 21 – 124 for 7 off 15. The next pair added 23 and this time it was Harry’s turn to take a wicket, bowling Woollett for 8 – 147 for 8 off 20 – the Hill were well on target with regard to runs at this stage but well down on the wicket front. Cowelo took the next wicket with an LBW decision – 184 for 9 off 28 and with the light fading that man Gee stepped up to take the final wicket with the Hill finishing on 195 off 30.5 overs. Some bowling figures – Tom 5-1-34-3, Joe R 8-0-39-2, Harry 4-0-15-1 and Cowelo 3-0-9-1. A really great afternoon with some outstanding performances, some laugh out loud moments and really good banter between all involved – brilliant.
