Knockers Vs Ventnor

Win :: Played on Thursday 21st July 2022

Knockers
200-6

Ventnor
193-3

Match Report

Knockers made it a tour two from two with a seven run victory at Ventnor. Nearly 400 runs were shared between the sides with fielders mere pawns in game mostly decided on the strip. Sachin Rawson’s unbeaten century was the centrepiece of a landmark total, ably assisted by Toby Pullan before Freddie Young and Hector Agnew helped put the run rate beyond a talented home batting line up.

As Greek triumph was well juxtaposed by Greek tragedy, Rozball doesn’t come without its dangers. With prematch preparation orchestrated on the beach, the shakes and sweats were not solely recovery from alcohol as the group sought internal confirmation that reacquaintance with the previous night’s fellow clubbers, this time with their families, was in tune with clear and honourable decision making while traversing life on the edge. The captain held court and all charges that day would remain as ones going down the wicket.

The most dutiful leaders are those that embrace doubt and wrestle with it in order to make a strategic call. One could argue sending out our gun bat hardly took genius but with a pavilion low on energy, high on crab related crimes, a boost was needed. Toby knew what his captain required and off we went again.

Scott attempted to keep up but after finding either fielder or slope, chopped on trying to use air to take out either. This brought Sachin to the crease and we sat back to watch a partnership of daring and do. Toby punished anything vaguely short of a length with several flat sixes laced in with 360 selection.

Meanwhile Sachin seemed set to act as foil to another Toby show, rotating the strike nicely but with a well balanced wagon wheel, if restricted in size by the Ventnor bowl. After Toby fell to the ever sharp hands of Ventnor’s keeper for a stumping, the run rate took a breath. Was Rozball simply a dressed-up Toby Pullan thing?

JT was bowled by a beaut after batting like he was simultaneously holding a telephone meeting (probably was given much of tour evidence). Ollie hit a glorious boundary before missing one and Lawrence defied a groaning groin with good running before getting stumped bringing Sam, the black trainered purveyor of morally questionable music, to the crease.

What of Sachin throughout this? As ignorant of events at the other end as he is of fielding duties (two matches, none of 55 overs spent on the third art), he was doing his own thing, quietly accelerating to take Knockers on to good health. Having hit six boundaries for his first fifty, he hit nine more to get to his authoritative century with four sixes that included two of the most nonchalant successive slog sweeps you are likely to witness.

Sam was caught behind and Ben came to assist Sachin in his quest. His opportunities to leave his partner stranded in the nineties presented themselves, not least facing at the start of the final over. Ben is a man of the classics. If Aeneas’ Hades was one of Fever and form, he could not have come through any better than Benedictus did here, glory be to Rozball, to Sachin and to 200 on the board with Jai joining Ben in the middle upon Rawson’s retirement.

Enough of our wand work. It is to bowling where each tour day presents new tasks worthy of Hercules. Freddie had prayed at the boundary alter for much of the day, sacrificing brain cells in a bid to win favour by the cricketing gods. Fickle fate chose him to open and his day had come with a measly 17 from four overs despite Spartan-esque aggression seeking to keep a ten an over run rate within reach. He bowled a very handy opener, Price in his final over.

Jonah, forsaking such prematch offerings to those that design his fate, watched teammates either put his bowling down or tragically sigh instead of dive to prevent boundaries.

Hector continued Freddie’s work, tying down an end with authority before bagging one which Sam, who had spent much of the day in tune with a rather different set of instructions from an unknown deity, held on to ably.

Sam took an end himself as the remaining opener, Winterbottom and newcomer, Calloway began eating, then gorging their merry way into Knockers’ run rate advantage. Boundaries were now the chief currency as fading light reduced most fielding to mere guesswork.

Toby replaced Sam as Rory knew he had little choice but to place himself at the mercy of fate at the other end. It was some debate as to whether his on-field orations were designed to psych himself out or the well-set batsmen. As with Nero, if Rome was to burn it would be by his own hand.

Calloway’s strike rate was bordering on the ludicrous but Rozball was upheld by the man himself as the reassuring, if surprising sound of collapsing stumps saw the danger man depart.

The final over saw thirteen needed to win, Toby’s economy sitting at eleven and Winterbottom facing with 80 runs in his pocket. Toby found an extra yard of pace with only three runs conceded to close this epic journey’s latest chapter. Interroga non Rozball.

 

Batting

Batsman	How Out	4s	6s	Runs
Toby Pullan	stumped	6	4	61
Scott Landers	bowled	0	0	2
Sachin Rawson	not out	12	4	103
James Thompson	bowled	0	0	3
Ollie Martyn	bowled	1	0	4
Lawrence Mayne	stumped	1	0	10
Sam Fennessy	caught	0	0	2
Ben Pullan	not out	1	0	8
Jai Shah	not out	0	0	1
Hector Agnew	dnb	0	0	0
Freddie Young	dnb	0	0	0
Rory Goodson	dnb	0	0	0
Jonah Munday	dnb	0	0	0

 

Bowling

Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts
Freddie Young	4.0	0	17	1
Jonah Munday	4.0	0	40	0
Hector Agnew	4.0	0	31	1
Sam Fennessy	2.0	0	37	0
Toby Pullan	4.0	0	35	0
Rory Goodson	2.0	0	24	1