Well done to the 10 men for pulling off a fine victory against strong opposition. Or should that be nine and a half men? Two of our number were, like Dudley Moore’s Tarzan, noticeably deficient in the leg department.
It didn’t matter. The skipper – due to an unexpected pottery class clash also our wickie – was out early to an alarmingly high-quality delivery and Jeff managed to get out to one not quite in that category but Aidan and Ralph certainly located the middles of their respective bats.
Aidan hit four boundaries in his not out knock and Ralph three in his including a six that bounced off the concrete and on to the pavilion roof.
Damon made a few, Val and his Robocop leg made a brief debut featuring Ralph as a runner and the innings ended memorably when Adrian’s attempt at clearing one of the longest boundaries in East Anglia ended up resembling a Cape Canaveral rocket launch. Eventually it came back down to earth, where their wickie was waiting in the middle of the pitch – as were Adrian and Bruce, keen to see what would happen. The answer was that he dropped it, cueing a mad scramble by the spectating pair to score a run that could have been completed several minutes earlier.
It all added up to a decent total, which we defended keenly from the off.
Stuart bowled through with probably the most control and consistency he has shown while wearing a Phoenix shirt and was rewarded with the wickets of both openers.
Their number three was intent on mayhem however and did retire not out but Stuart and Jeff made him work for it. IPH fell behind the run rate in the middle section of their innings, with Adrian and Ralph each dismissing two batsmen. Two of their number did get to 25 but not quickly enough and Jeff sent a stump reeling with the final ball of a match that had already been decided in our favour.
Phoenix
G Everson b Jeewa 2
J Wilson c? b Nav 11
A Swain retired not out 27
R Minter retired not out 26
D Rainsford c? b Butler 16
V Biswas lbw b Butler 2
A Foster not out 4
B Cairnduff not out 4
dnb S Creed, J West
Extras 40
Total: 132-4 off 20 overs
IPH
Chris c Cairnduff b Creed 2
Priten b Creed 0
Sushant retired not out 26
Luke c West b Wilson 2
Bondy c Creed b Foster 6
Suraj b Foster 11
Libin retired not out 25
Butler b Minter 6
Vin b Minter 1
Jeewa not out 25
Nav b Wilson 1
Extras 15
Total: 120-8 off 20 overs
S Creed 4-0-17-2
J Wilson 4-0-28-2
J West 4-0-18-0
A Foster 4-0-27-2
R Minter 4-0-29-2