MATCH REPORT: Steep 2s vs Petersfield 2s

MATCH REPORT: Steep 2s vs Petersfield 2s

 

Steep and Petersfield fought out a thrilling encounter on the weekend in which fortunes swayed from one side to the other, the result in doubt until the very last ball.

 

Batting first, Steep’s total of 172 for 8 owed much to an unbeaten 92 from opener Dale, who survived several dropped chances to hold the innings together in a fine knock. Windebank (3 for 29) and Chris Wood (2 for 27) were the pick of the ‘Field bowlers.

 

In reply, the two Chris’s, Wood and Russell, rarely looked in trouble in putting on 34 for the first wicket. However a leading edge accounted for Wood and when Russell was brilliantly run out, Steep sniffed an opportunity and proceeded make inroads into the middle order, reducing Petersfield at one point to 57 for 5.

 

Steep were eyeing victory, but ‘Field weren’t out of the hunt while skipper Stephens was at the crease and successive, crucial partnerships of 36, 46 and 27 with Gumbe, Dodd and Windebank meant that 14 runs were required with 3 overs to go. This became 6 with 2 overs left and 4 needed off the last over.

 

Petersfield fancied their chances but late wickets were falling and when Davenport departed, caught behind, no. 11 McBain marched confidently (kind of) to the crease, with 2 still required and three balls to go. A block and a scrambled single meant 1 run was needed off the last ball. The tension was unbearable; it was sweaty bum time – how would this end? Sadly a miscued drive by Stephens to the last ball was caught, meaning the result, incredibly, was a tie.

 

This was cruel indeed on the skipper, who, in scoring a tremendous 72, could have done little more to – nearly – haul Petersfield to a famous win. Credit must go to the youngster Yates, who kept his head when the pressure was on and finished with his first league five-fer (5 for 39).

 

A tie in cricket is a bit like kissing your sister, but this was a tremendous game, played in great spirit by two closely matched sides, with the post mortems carried out by all the players in Doddy’s favourite pub (not), the splendid Harrow pub.

 

The 2s drop to 5^th in the league but it’s becoming increasingly tight at the top of Regional Division 2 North, with hardly anything separating the top 5 teams. It’s all to play for.