Scorecard

Bentley 2 v Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI on Sat 03 Sep 2022 at 1.00
Purleigh CC Lost by 42 runs

Match report PURLEIGH PINCH A PODIUM PLACE BUT PASS ON PROMOTION

The final league game of the season saw the team at Bentley Cricket Club, where once again on paper the batting looked stronger than the bowling and so it was to prove. A lost toss meant that Purleigh had to field first with their limited bowling resources on a fast outfield with a short boundary on one side.

An excellent opening wicket-maiden from Melvin John was a great start, the first ball of the match whizzing past the batsman's chest and thudding easy as you like into veteran keeper Ed Oliver's gloves right in front of his face, rolling back the years to enjoy keeping to some quick, bouncy fast bowling - at least for Melvin's first three overs. The third ball, a yorker, cleaned up the batsman's stumps as he failed to get in line. But that was as good as it got for Purleigh until well after the drinks break. Bentley's second pair had added 161 while skipper Chris Freegard shuffled his bowlers to no avail until Alex Reeves induced a nick behind on the leg side, well snaffled by the keeper. By now, no.3 bat Cruz-Rocha, hopefully nicknamed 'Ferrero' by his teammates, was well on the way to a quick century which he duly achieved before being well held in the deep by Josh Taylor off the captain's bowling for 130 from 93 balls. At 236 for 3 Purleigh were certainly not out of it, but Bentley skipper Barker now took over the big hitting and smashed a valuable 120 from 83 balls before being superbly caught by Shahid on the midwicket boundary in an expensive last over. Damage done, Bentley ended on a formidable 360-6 from their 45 overs. Seven bowlers were tried, Shahid being the pick with 8 overs, 1 maiden, 1 for 43.

Faced with such a huge target after tea, many teams might have capitulated and been bowled out cheaply throwing the bat, but this season's Purleigh side has been competitive in every game and today's was no exception. Freegard and Taylor came within a whisker of their elusive century opening stand, parted at 98 when Taylor was bowled, still in touch with the run rate. Some defensive field setting made boundaries harder to come by but the skipper and Andy Bowles batted properly, adding 110 before Bowles was caught behind trying to push the score along. Brad Barrick (not 'Barry Borsick' as Bentley somehow though he was called) joined the captain at the crease and it was clearly now or never for Purleigh. Sadly, 'never' was probably the more likely outcome, and so it proved when Brad was caught in the deep, but he had struck a four and one huge six to hint at what might have been. Chris batted on with Mark Rynn in rapidly fading light after much time had been spent by both teams searching for lost balls. The captain's marathon knock was boosted by a big last over, finishing 189 not out with 23 fours and 5 sixes, Purleigh ending on a respectable 318 for 3 from 45 overs, collecting eight points to ensure their third place finish in Division Four with 11 wins and 7 defeats.

Insomniacs, or Purleigh cricket fanatics can view the entire game on the Bentley CC Youtube channel, it lasts long enough to keep us all going until next season, when hopefully all our players and supporters will be back for more.

Bentley 2 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 8w 9b 10lb 
for 6 wickets
29
360 (45.0 overs)
     
O Gordon b  John 0
L Rawlinson ct  Oliver b. Reeves 56
J-P Cruz Rocha ct  Taylor b. Freegard 130
R Barker ct  Yasin b. Reeves 120
D France b  Freegard 6
C Darby ct  Patel b. Yasin 16
G Avaloine Not Out  3
D Hammond Not Out  0
M France  
J Knight  
M Smith  

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Melvin John6.0160160.0010.00
Christian Freegard9.0054227.006.00
Shahid Yasin8.0143143.005.37
Jai Patel9.015400.006.00
Andy Bowles3.003100.0010.33
Alex Reeves6.0067233.5011.17
Josh Taylor4.003200.008.00

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
7w 3b 5lb 
for 3 wickets
15
318
        
Christian Freegard Not Out  189 23 5
Josh Taylor b  D France 23 3 1
Andy Bowles ct  Knight b. Hammond 53 3 3
Brad Barrick ct  Barker b. M France 13 1 1
Mark Rynn Not Out  25 3
Steve Rynn  
Melvin John  
Jai Patel   1
Shahid Yasin   1
Alex Reeves  
Ed Oliver   1

Bentley 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
D Hammond9.0164164.007.11
M Smith2.001900.009.50
R Barker7.003300.004.71
D France7.0039139.005.57
M France9.0047147.005.22
G Avaloine7.006700.009.57
C Darby2.001900.009.50
J-P Cruz Rocha2.002200.0011.00