Nailbiter at Stapleton ends with another win for OBWCC 1sts

It was a properly sunny cricket day for the third fixture of the Bristol & District Senior league as OBWCC visited Stapleton on 20 May; the usual fluctuating availability meant several changes to the OBWCC team. Captain George Willis lost the toss and OBs were put in to bat, which Willis might have chosen to do in any case.

Openers Russ Baker and James Tucker made a steady start on the notoriously long and narrow Stapleton field, with short boundaries on both sides of the wicket. Opening bowler Sajid was accordingly punished with Baker taking two 4s in the first over, after which the openers settled down to build a successful partnership. Sajid’s quickish pace (3-0-19-0) gave way to Pervaiz’s more comfortable medium, matching Glen at the pavilion end. Neither bowler threatened the OBWCC batters, whose partnership reached 77 before Baker fell for 31, in Stapleton captain Birkinshaw‘s first over of spin. Glen bowled nine economical overs unchanged (9-0-31-0) but OBWCC were comfortable, scoring at four an over. However left arm spinner Shabbir replaced Glen and immediately slowed the scoring rate. Tucker and George Harris put on 19 for the second wicket before Shabbir struck, beating Tucker’s advance to give Mountstephen a straightforward stumping: 96-2. With Tucker out for a solid 45 Connor Crane joined Harris and the pair added 27 before Harris (20) was trapped lbw by offspinner Long. The scoring rate, stuck at four an over, needed to improve on a field offering so many boundary opportunities. Crane and Will Greatorex accelerated even though Shabbir tied down one end for his impressive spell (9-1-16-1). Greatorex (35) was bowled by Pervaiz in the 42nd over with the score 190-4, and a rate of only 4.5 an over looked as if it might not be enough. Willis shuffled the batting order to promote the big-hitting Johnny Norman and the boundaries started to flow, with Norman striking a 6 and a 4 from his first four balls. From the last 22 balls OBWCC added 47, Norman hitting 37 off just 15 balls. Crane (45) was lbw to Birkinshaw with one ball left, leaving Charlie Collar to hit a single off the last ball. OBWCC’s score of 237-5 from the 45 overs was probably no more than par.

Stapleton started quickly in reply. Opener Pervaiz (20) was caught in the 5^th over by wicketkeeper Kerry Lock off the bowling of Willis, with the score already 30-1. No 3 Ollie Slade struggled, with just one scoring stroke in his 16-ball innings of 4, becoming Willis’s second victim: 45-3 in the 11^th over. After Norman’s opening spell (3-0-17-0) Ollie Harris took over at the Pavilion end; he conceded 9 in his first over but only 9 more in his next 5 overs, strangling the batters McEndoo and Millard as Willis continued to bowl unchanged, 9-2-23-2. There was no respite for Stapleton as Crane replaced Willis and then Norman resumed at the Pavilion end. The fourth ball of Norman’s second spell saw the end of McEndoo, who miscued a hit to Willis at mid-off: 106-3 in the 26^th over. The required rate was almost 6 an over, still eminently achievable as Shabbir came to the wicket. The new batter had an immediate effect and Millard (44) had contributed just 8 to the fourth wicket partnership of 34 when he succumbed to the last ball of Baker’s first over. 140-4 in the 34^th over, with the required rate now approaching 9. WinViz would have been swinging towards OBWCC, but Shabbir had other ideas, dominating another partnership, with James Slade contributing just 10 to the 5^th wicket partnership of 44. At 184-5 Stapleton needed 54 from 32 balls, but with Shabbir still at the crease that looked increasingly likely. Ollie Harris had come back to bowl his last three overs at the death, and had Slade caught by George Harris in the first of his last three overs. After Mike Jones’s first spell, 3-0-22-0, he returned for two more before Norman would bowl the last two. Shabbir was all but run out after a hit to deep long on, scrambling home to keep the strike for the following over as Lock could not gather the throw. Jones’s first over cost only three singles, but Shabbir took him on in his last over, slog-sweeping 6-2-6 off the first three balls, with the sixes disappearing out of the ground. 35 needed off 15 balls, but 6s were coming frequently. Jones’s fourth ball was struck in the same direction but straighter, towards deep long on. It was not easy for Norman, in shade under the trees, to pick up the flight of the ball, but he completed the crucial catch. 198-6, 40 needed with just 27 balls left and man of the match Shabbir out for a splendid 73, pushed WinViz deep into OBWCC territory. It went even further as Sajid, promoted in the order for his hitting, went cheaply for just 5 – 203-7, 35 needed, 16 balls left. Harris had the wicket, with Lock standing up and completing a smart stumping. Surely OBWCC would now cruise home with Harris and Norman bowling at the death. Stapleton captain Birkinshaw had different ideas. Two fours off Norman’s first over, 11 altogether and it was 216-7 with two overs left. Still 22 needed. Harris bowled the 44^th over, and Birkinshaw smashed the first ball for 6. The next went for 3 wides, and suddenly only 13 were needed off 11 balls. Odds on Stapleton. Birkinshaw took a single and No 9 Long hit the next three balls for 4-dot-1. Just 7 needed with three wickets in hand and seven balls left. Winviz would have said 95% probability of a Stapleton win. Birkinshaw faced the last ball from Harris needing only a single from every ball remaining. Harris kept his nerve and beat the bat, with Lock completing another crucial stumping to reduce Stapleton to 231-8. A great second spell from Harris with three wickets, his final analysis 9-1-44-3. Seven needed off the last over, bowled by Norman, No 9 Long facing and No 10 Glen at the non-striker’s end. Dot off the first ball. 7 needed from five balls, but then Norman hit the stumps to dismiss Long for 7. 231-9 with four balls left. Advantage swinging back to OBWCC with the last pair together. Mountstephen joined Glen and scrambled a leg bye off his first ball. 6 to win, 5 to tie, off three balls. Next ball a dot. Glen made good contact with the next and there was a possible two, but he settled for a single, making the equation off the last ball 5 or 6 to win, 4 to tie. But there was nothing Mountstephen could do as Norman’s final dot ball brought OBWCC home for a win by just 4 runs, Norman finishing with 9-0-41-2.

The nailbiting finish saw the advantage swinging vertiginously from one side to the other in the last five overs. OBWCC triumphed thanks to their bowlers keeping their composure despite taking some understandable punishment on the cramped ground. With the win OBWCC went top of the early season league table.