Scorecard

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI v Stock 2 on Sat 01 May 2021 at 1.00
Purleigh CC Won by 5 wickets

Match report It was an almost perfect start to the league season for Purleigh Cricket Club, with a home win against Stock 2nd XI. It would have been more perfect had we not lost the toss and been asked to field with only nine players present including one over-60 and our multi-retired over-70s veterans' veteran club president Dave Geezer Bowles. But Stock also had only nine including two youngsters, so it was a proper early-season village affair.

Reasonably tight early bowling restricted the Stock openers to no more than four runs per over and the first two wickets fell before thirty runs were on the board, Matthew Oliver squeezing one through a backward defensive block that failed to stop the ball trickling towards the stumps with just enough oomph to dislodge the bails. Jai Patel, bowling the occasional extra-quick delivery among some well-disguised slower balls took the second wicket with a thin edge to the keeper, and the batsman sportingly walked. Stock rebuilt their innings fairly successfully, rarely missing the opportunity to hit loose balls to the boundary. But the regular fall of wickets meant they were never able to cut loose, especially after Purleigh's tenth fielder Jordan Oliver arrived hotfoot from an allergy testing appointment, at which he was apparently declared 'normal'.

It was the thirtieth over of the match that swung the game in Purleigh's favour when last-minute recruit Mike Smith took three wickets to end the Stock innings, the first with a ball that would have dismissed many good players, swinging late from a middle stump line to clip the top of the off stump. This brought Stock's fourteen year old batsman to the crease, at which competitive instinct kicked in and the ruthless Purleigh wicketkeeper stumped him first ball. A single followed, bringing Stock's dangerous hitter to the strike and he smashed the last ball of the over towards the boundary only to see it caught low down by a tumbling Matt Oliver who did well to get to the ball let alone catch it. Final total 129, M Smith 6 for 50.

After the tea interval Purleigh skipper Mark Rynn felt confident enough to adjust the batting order and veteran Dave Bowles opened with Josh Taylor. After the early loss of Taylor, Bowles and Paul Conway made steady progress until the latter's stumps were disturbed. Happily the Stock fourteen year old bowled four tidy overs, so hopefully his day was not entirely ruined by the callous Purleigh keeper. Further partnerships edged Purleigh closer to their target while wickets fell regularly enough to keep Stock interested. But Matt Oliver, top scoring with 36 and Dave Bowles (21) (runs not years) who played a classic openers' knock punctuated by dabs and leg glances, broke the back of the chase, enabling Jordan Oliver and Jai Patel to see Purleigh over the line.

Overall, an enjoyable day with some decent cricket played in the right spirit. Hopefully both sides will be able to field eleven players for the rest of the season.

Stock 2 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
6w 1b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
8
129 (30.0 overs)		     
Herley ct  Patel 14
Tant D b  M Oliver 8
Khizer lbw  Smith 25
Porter ct  Smith 16
Green M b  Smith 19
Zain ct  Smith 26
Tant S b  Smith 12
Cory A st  Smith 0
Williams Not Out  1
(only 9)  
(only 9)  

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jai Patel7.0024124.003.43
Matt Oliver5.0115115.003.00
Steve Rynn7.012900.004.14
Mike Smith10.005068.335.00
Josh Taylor1.00900.009.00

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 7w 2b 5lb 
for 5 wickets
15
130		        
Dave Bowles b  Khizer 21
Josh Taylor b  Zain 1
Paul Conway b  Zain 12 2
Mike Smith b  Green 22 5 1
Matt Oliver ct  Porter 36 7 1
Jordan Oliver Not Out  19 3
Jai Patel Not Out  4 1
Mark Rynn  
Steve Rynn  
Ed Oliver   1 1
A.N. Other  

Stock 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Williams8.012400.003.00
Zain7.0030215.004.29
Green5.0029129.005.80
Porter4.0015115.003.75
Khizer1.5010110.005.45