Scorecard

Purleigh CC Friendly XI v President's Guest XI on Sat 04 Sep 2021 at 1.00
Match was Tied

Match report PERFECT PARITY AT PURLEIGH PRESIDENT'S PARTY

Fine weather appeared on cue for President's day when two teams of Purleigh players, friends and guests assembled for a 30-over match to celebrate a successful season. The day also attracted the largest crowd of the year at Purleigh playing field, looking resplendent with a gazebo, tables with sunshades and plenty of cold drinks.

Steve Rynn's Purleigh XI batted first, to face Jai Patel opening the bowling for the President's XI. Jai quickly reverted to 'league game mode' when his mate Jordan Oliver was on strike for the second ball of the day, clean bowling him with the third ball. Springfield's Charlie Prudence probed away with some quick bowling at the other opener Chris Freegard, which also tested veteran keeper Ed Oliver, proving he was just about still up to the job when he took a good stretching catch to remove number 3 bat Martin Cooper who nicked a wide one behind after hitting three quick fours. Stu Warren and Freegard put on 45 runs in good time before Stu was well caught by Alex Reeve off a very high skyer, Melvin John the bowler. Chris Freegard survived a steepling skyer of his own when Ed Oliver made good ground to get under the ball only to find it somehow swerving back behind him on its way down, avoiding any contact with the keeping gloves. It wasn't as costly a miss as usual because the 'retire at 50' rule applied today and the Purleigh superstar was soon back in the hutch on 53 not out, bringing Mark Rynn to the crease. Batting with Owen Swann, the pair dealt mainly in boundaries before both were dismissed by Matt Oliver who also disturbed Josh Taylor's stumps in response to being hit for a four. Steve Rynn and Stuart Gibbs added 37 in the last eight overs to take the total to 177 from the full 30 overs.

A leisurely tea interval had the added bonus of a proper pot of tea and trays of doughnuts, laid on for President's day by Josh Taylor.

The President's XI, captained by Jatin Bathla, used the same tactic as the Purleigh XI and opened the batting with their best player, Charlie Prudence, who duly retired on 52 not out having lost along the way Matt Oliver for 10 and Alex Reeve for 7, both bowled by Stu Warren. Jatin replaced Charlie but was unlucky to nick off first ball in an eventful over from Owen Swann that also included two sixes for Charlie and a five (with four 'buzzer' overthrows) for Dave Bowles. This kickstarted the President's own innings as he progessed from nudges and nurdles to some full-blooded straight drives before he top-edged one up and was caught by Martin Cooper for 17. Jai Patel soon followed for 13 leaving the President's XI on 107 for 5 after 20 overs. In Melvin John and Ed Oliver there was now plenty of experience at the crease but at least one of those is not known for his quick scoring. Nevertheless, the pair batted sensibly taking what runs were on offer with some good running between the wickets, and not falling into the trap of trying to slog out too soon. The score progressed to 132 from 25 overs. leaving 46 need from the last 5. At 147 from 28 overs, Steve Rynn's Purleigh XI seemed to have the game in the bag, until Melvin brought some Caribbean flair to the party, hitting a succession of sixes and fours leaving five runs required from the last two balls - only with Ed now facing it was not a foregone conclusion. But the penultimate ball was a generous legside full toss which even a veteran could swipe to the boundary to level the scores with one ball remaining. Ed then repaid the generosity by patting back the last ball to leave cricket the winner in a game that neither side deserved to lose, although both were beaten by the size of the post-match buffet at the Fox and Hounds, where the green-fingered hunk of Hyde Hall Matt Oliver handed out bunches of prize-winning dahlia blooms to give the lads some brownie points on their return home.

Purleigh CC Friendly XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 11w 3b 6lb 
for 8 wickets
23
177		        
Christian Freegard Retired Not Out  53
Jordan Oliver b J. Patel 2
Martin Cooper ct E. Oliver b. C. Prudence 13
Stuart Warren ct A. Reeve b. M. John 10
Owen Swann b M. Oliver 25
Mark Rynn lbw M. Oliver 19
A.N. Other lbw M. John 0
Josh Taylor b M. Oliver 4
Steve Rynn st M. John b. E. Oliver 20
Stuart Gibbs Not Out  8
A.N. Other  

President's Guest XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
J. Patel6.0044144.007.33
C. Prudence6.0131131.005.17
M. John6.0022211.003.67
M. Oliver6.0050316.678.33
J. Bathla1.00600.006.00
T. Oliver2.01300.001.50
E. Oliver2.00919.004.50
D. Bowles1.00400.004.00

President's Guest XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
5nb 6w 2b 2lb 
for 5 wickets
15
177 (30.0 overs)		     
C. Prudence Retired Not Out  52
M. Oliver b S. Warren 11
A. Reeve b S. Warren 7
D. Bowles ct M. Cooper b. O. Swann 17
J. Bathla ct S. Rynn b. O. Swann 0
J. Patel b O. Swann 13
M. John Not Out  39
E. Oliver Not Out  23
T. Oliver  
A. N. Other  
A. N. Other  

Purleigh CC Friendly XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Josh Taylor3.002200.007.33
Stuart Warren5.0029214.505.80
Stuart Gibbs3.00500.001.67
Owen Swann6.0033311.005.50
Martin Cooper6.002600.004.33
Jordan Oliver4.002900.007.25
Christian Freegard3.002700.009.00