A look at the ladder just prior to game 4 had the All Ord's, much to all team members' surprise, in third place and performing way above initial expectations. The loss of the dependable Doc Watson and the youthful exuberance of Serry Junior was expected to have an effect, but the return of the Pinman and the debut of Serry Junior Junior was expected to bolster morale and reduce the average age!. The fact that Pretty Boy had arrived directly from the pub was however not a great omen! Our Captain started badly, with not enough time to complete his "kama sutra" exercises before the start of the game and this psychological blow may have been the cause of us losing the toss and having to bat first.
The Captain sent in Pinman and Smithy to open - confidence wasnt high, illustrated by Pinman, who when told he was opening with Smithy, reacted with a groan! This reporter however, had faith in the ever-reliable batting specialist Smithy to keep the over-excitable Pinman in check! An opening over of 0/13 got us off to a good start and whilst we lost a wicket in the second over and only managed to move the score forward by a single at the end of it, the fighting spirit kicked in and the boys produced a third over of 0/24 (Smithy a magnificent six and Pinman 3 fours). The opposition fielding was starting to fray under this onslaught and a final over of 0/9 gave our openers a superb partnership of 47 (Smithy 23, Pinman 24).
Next in was Serry Senior and Serry Junior Junior. The plan, givens Serry Senior's previous two weeks of batting, was for the pair to not go negative in their four overs given the opener's great start. They began steadily and managed 0/5 off their first over, a good start that was perhaps due to the fact that Serry Senior scored a single off the first ball and then didnt face a ball for the rest of the over! The second over also went smoothly with 0/9 and the third produced 0/8 (by coincidence, Serry Senior again only having one ball to face!)The last over produced 0/9 thus given the second pair a steady 31 off their four overs (Serry Senior 16, Serry Junior Junior 15 - thank goodness the father scored one more run than the son, otherwise he would never be able to live it down!). At 78 off 8 overs, the team was in a great position.
On came our last pair, the Captain and Pretty Boy. After their explosive debut partnership the week before, expectations were high but when Pretty Boy struggled to get through the nets and into the arena, questions were asked about just how many pre-game drinks he had consumed! Any worries were set aside as the pair started brightly, taking 9 off the first over and despite Pretty Boy getting over excited and dancing down the pitch only to get stumped, 10 runs were taken off the second over thanks to a 6 from Pretty Boy. The third was more of the same with 0/12 and the last produced another 11 runs despite another dance down the wicket by Pretty Boy only to be bowled. Despite a couple of wickets, the pair showed an ability to score at will and produced a very handy 42 off their 4 overs (Captain a superb 32, Pretty Boy an intoxicated 10) to have the team on 120, with a very good score to defend.
The bowling was opened by Pinman, who signalled to the opposition that this wasnt going to be an easy chase, taking 1/1 with the wicket a magnificent stumping from John Webster who has had his named changed by deed poll to "Pretty Boy with the Superfast Hands Watch Out Girls" - depsite his repeated requests, this reporter will stick with Pretty Boy for short! Serry Junior Junior came on second and bowled 5 balls for just two runs and had the ball swinging though the six off the last ball didnt help his average. Smithy then took 1 wicket for just five runs with some more tight bowling and Pinman rounded it off with 1/8 and another stumping to Pretty Boy (his teammates are now buying him a few drinks before he goes out to keep each week). Surprisingly, no official complaint was laid by the opposition batsman despite Pinman bowling 3 head high full tosses in the over - it may have been because Serry Senior recognized one of the opposition batsmen as a past student and promised to write him a glowing reference letter. The first pair finished with 24, with the required run rate climbing steadily.
Serry Senior opened to the second pair and bowled a tidy 1/4. The big guy batting was looking for runs but Captain came on and bowled at speed, taking 1/11 with another stumping to Pretty Boy, this time off our fastest bowler. With the pressure building, Pretty Boy then took the ball and surprisingly landed on the pitch to end with 1/7. The final over of the second pair was Serry Senior's loopers again, which took 2/2 including a stinging catch by Pinman where the missile came from the top net into Pinny's hands, bounced up about 4 feet and then landed in his claw for a sublime catch. The second pair made a struggling 24 despite trying to score quickly, for a combined total of 48, thus leaving a mammoth 73 to win.
Serry Junior Junior opened the bowling to the last pair, and despite them looking to score big runs, bowled a lovely over taking his first wicket in the big time and finishing with 1/2, thanks to another stumping by Pretty Boy. Smithy came on and bowled tightly as usual but this time got the reward for his pressure, taking 2/1 with another stumping to Pretty Boy (who has now won a sponsorship with Smirnoff Vodka). The Captain then came in and bowled a tight over, unlucky not to get a wicket whilst conceding only 7 runs and the final over was Pretty Boy's who took 1/7 and ended a memorable match on a winning note.
Highlights were Pretty Boy's multiple stumpings off all types of bowling under adverse conditions (though i do not think that is a legal defense), Pinman's catching and vicious head hunters without retaliation (thank goodness!), and Man of the Match Smithy's consistent excellence with both bat and ball!
Bowling figures: Pinman 2/9, Serry Junior Junior, 1/12, Smithy 3/6, Serry Senior 3/6, Captain 1/18, Pretty Boy 2/18
Stay Tuned.