J'ville Young Guns 76, T Buchan 3-6, S Rai 2-4, Nando 2-12
Karori Wildcats 77/3, A Hampshire 33* (31), W Herbert 25 (14)
The first shots were fired at 1:45 pm. J'Ville won the toss and chose to bat. That battle was over, but the Young Guns were not prepared for war. Few are.
Their openers were immediately under pressure with Fairless and Nando beating the bat. Our bowlers delivered a one-two combo in the fifth and six overs: Nando hitting low-middle stump and Fairless using short stuff to induce a skyhook. Rupert took a stunning alligator catch in the deep to issue the openers their last rites. J'ville were 19-2 after 6.
The middle overs featured a bowler called Two-Cannon Buchan. (He gets his own paragraph). Tom cocked his wrist and propelled a barrage of unplayable, swinging, Sidewinder missiles for 4 consecutive overs. He stuck first in the 9th over, getting the edge, when Dan used his Croft-dusting hands to take the catch low at 1st slip. The next ball was hooked to short square leg, and Fairless cupped it nicely. TB was on an HT. J'ville finished the 9th over on 27-4. Tom got one more wicket (caught behind from a periscope) and finished with season-best figures of 3-6 (4).
At the other end Will and Sukhin kept the pressure on, and Sukhin was rewarded with two wickets, including one wicket from the only ball of the day that a J'Ville batsmen charged. It hit the top of middle stump.
The Cats catching and fielding was generally exceptional. Will was sliding around like nobody's business. Neil used his pec to stop the ball when backing up. The only dampener in the field was Nando's attempt to catch the ball with his shoulder at mid-wicket off Crofty's offies. It didn't work. J'Ville were all out for 76, with Dan Nicholls sliding in at mid-on to demonstrate proper catching technique from Nando's last over.
The Wildcats run chase got going with Teddy Westside and Neil Mistry-Machine opening up. Neil made solid connection with the ball and set off for a tight single. He was sent back and departed. Alex then came in and he and Tom blunted the good J'ville bowling attack. They shared the load and made 17 runs together from 5 overs.
When Tom departed Will entered the fray. Will and Alex's alliance achieved supremacy, launching three Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) onto the adjacent pitch. Alex's 6 hit that pitch, bounced, then rolled on for a total of 200m. When Will was caught for 25 (14), only 20 more runs were required from 10 overs, and Alex and Crofty finished it off in style. That style being a wide, showing that J'ville were all out of ammo.
Our batsmen were almost disappointed to see the "Mission Accomplished" banner unfurled so early. Alex finished 33* (31) and Crofty 3* (4). The J'Ville Young Guns were made to look like Rusty Muskets.
A classy day out was made complete with four WAGs womaning the sideline, partially sheltered by the SportBrella (which blocked winds from one of the four directions). After the game drinks were had at several locations. With the Wildcats atop the table all is well in the world leading into the holiday break.
