NEWS
21 July 2018 - OCCC vs Penn St
OCCC vs Penn St at 1pm on Saturday 21st July at Penn St
by Richard Hillman
Yesterday we travelled to a sun baked Penn St. The outfield was brown and turned out to be as quick as any we can have played on in recent times. I lost the toss and Penn St close to bat first in a 40 over game. Saad and Richard Millett shared the new ball and Saad began with a maiden. In his second over he extracted some bounce and the opener gloved the ball and I was able to take a one handed catch diving low to my right. The number three immediately announced himself with two boundaries. Richard was slightly struggling with his length and the remaining opener hit three quick boundaries through point. Saad then found his outside edge and the ball flew high and fast but Nick Bernadout nonchalantly stuck his right hand above his head to pouch a stunning slip catch. After these two early breakthroughs life became harder. The left handed number four was as prepared as the number three to play his shots and they raced to 70 in 9 overs although Saad had a difficult caught and bowled chance he couldn’t cling on to. It didn’t matter hugely because Nick struck with his second ball as the number four clipped him to Richard Bardsley at mid wicket. Callum replaced Saad and nearly had the number five caught when he gloved a bouncer just beyond my reach. The number five didn’t look particularly secure yet be had a good eye and hit a couple of effortless 6s. The number three was a class act and in 12 overs Penn St scored 100 runs before Richard Bardsley made a desperately needed breakthrough. He got a ball to bounce and the number three got a faint top edge to be dismissed for 90. Zeb bowled tidily but without any luck and it was Sam Bernadout who took the next wicket when he bowled the number six for 12. With five overs to go it seemed Penn St would pass 300 as they were handily placed on 265 but Callum returned to the attack with devastating effect. A slower ball went high into the air and I ran 20 yards to take the catch to dismiss the number five for ninety. In all in the space of 13 balls Callum proceeded to bowl 3 batsmen and have another LBW without conceding a run and he finished with figures of 5-33. Penn St closed on 282.
Saad and Richard Millet opened the batting and were faced with contrasting challenges. At one end the quick South African bowled well and survival was the main priority. In contrast the other bowler struggled with his line and length and the challenge was to score as many runs as possible. Saad accepted this second challenge with alacrity and he savaged the bowler in a 3 over spell which went for 42. Saad cut, pulled and drove him and with Richard offering good support we raced to 67 in the first 8 overs. Saad had reached 47 off 24 balls but was then bowled off his pads. Zeb got of the mark with a gorgeous square cut but was then yorked to give the South African his second wicket. He grabbed two more wickets as both Steve and Callum edged behind and we had slipped to 83 for 4. I joined Richard who had been playing a sensible role of seeing out the good balls and punishing the bad ball. He had scored boundaries mainly through cover and mid wicket. We added 31 before I was out for 12 when I drove straight to extra cover. Richard Bardsley was the next batsman and he was to witness Richard reach an excellent 50 before he was adjudged LBW. When Richard was bowled for 6 we were 137 for 7 and the end appeared nigh. Instead we were treated to a highly entertaining eight wicket partnership between Nick and Nic. Nic was to get his highest Old Citizens score and played a glorious straight drive as part of his unbeaten 11. Nick was in a stand and deliver mood, perhaps in part due to his knee injury. When he hit the ball it usually went for four and he mainly hit in the classical V. He had a few plays and misses but fully deserved to reach only his second Old Citizens half century. His unbeaten 57 had 13 boundaries. We closed on a respectable 212 for 7.