| Peter Hollman of Pacific writes:
Pacific 101-6 (16 overs). D DeKeller 35. Newby 4-0-22-2
Victoria Lounge 84-7.(14.3) J Crutcher 33. Hollman 4-0-28-2. Faisal 4-0-30-2.
Pacific win by 17 runs.
An evenly matched low scoring game went the way of Pacific thanks to consistent catching & a longer tail than Lounge would have liked. Pacific's outfield performance delighted Captain Steve Emmins " I cannot recall a team performance whereby there were positive performances in the field by every
member".
Lounge who had done well to restrict Pacific to a highly attainable target of 102 from 16 overs at 6.375 thanks to good accurate bowling from Tim Smith & Elrick Newby & solid committed ground fielding lead by captain Alistair Dunning, set off confidently. Together James Crutcher & Jon Merrell put together the match's largest partnership & having reached 40-0 from 6 overs required only a further 62 runs from 10 overs with all wickets in hand.
Mark Herring's running catch on the midwicket boundary was the initial breakthrough, Crutcher trying to hook/pull Faisal, which gave Pacific hope & lifted spirits as the Lounge openers had been confidently scoring the runs at the required rate. 2 further wickets from Hollman & another excellent caught & bowled from Faisal & the game had been turned upside down with Lounge on 56-4 at the half way point.
Still, Lounge Captain Alistair Dunning , remained the key wicket & 46 runs at 5.75 with 3 wickets in hand was still eminently attainable. It was his dismissal therefore, to DeKeller thanks to an excellent catch that came from a driven shot at arm's length above his head taken by the injured Emmins at short cover & which effectively turned the game.
The match's turnaround was even more incredible in that opening bowler Mark Herring had aggravated a thigh strain & couldn't bowl & Steve Emmins had twisted his knee early on in the field & was hobbling thereafter.
DeKeller & Simon Holliday then turned the screw & the last 2 partnerships couldn't get the ball away. Tim Smith was caught by DeKeller off Simon Holliday & Jim Davies was introduced by the canny skipper. Panic set in following a leg glance but a swift Faisal , ran in & threw in a flat one to Davies at the bowlers end who collected & ran out Newby by a good yard & Pacific were home with 15 balls to spare.
Earlier P had found it hard against the away movement & bounce of Smith & Newby & without DeKeller's patient 35, anything could have happened. Indeed DeKeller was lucky that a more determined fielding effort early on could have seen him caught when on 0.
Runs continued to be eked out & a frantic end of innings effort just scraped Pacific over the 100 mark. In the end as it turned out this was 17 runs more than Lounge could reach. |