OUCCC vs Loughborough Staff CC at Manny Rd, Sunday 10 June 2007
OUCCC won the toss and elected to bat OUCCC innings Gawley bowled 0 Allender bowled 78 Dipayan caught 129 Dines not out 68 Diganta not out 1 Extras 29 Total: 304 for 3 (40 overs) Loughborough innings Ranka-Dinek bowled Barker 11 Abhyanxar c.&b. West 99 Gohil bowled Das 59 Neale bowled Das 0 Siva bowled West 3 Vaidhy ct. (Booth) Das 0 Patel ct. sub (Ben) von Delft 6 Asogan bowled Hartin 0 Jayawardne ct. (Diganta) Hartin 1 Binner not out 2 Richardson bowled Hartin 1 Extras 24 Total: 205 for 10 (37.5 overs) Booth 6 1 28 0 Barker 5 0 45 1 Diganta 5 0 37 3 Hartin 5.2 0 26 3 Dipayan 6 0 19 3 West 7 1 41 2 von Delft 3 0 5 1 OUCCC won by 99 runs Our innings: Sometimes a week of sunshine makes all the difference. And so it was at Manny Rd on Sunday: The bowlers' wicket of last week had be transformed to a batting paradise. Last week, the ball was swinging, cutting off the wicket, and, there was hint of low bounce around. This week the wicket and inclement conditions were offering little to the bowlers. So much so that at one point I was considering to pout a call out to the Oxford City council to come and paint white lines down the centre of the pitch. Winning the toss, I decided to make best use of the hot conditions and bat first. Still in the first over, I had decided that quickly the bowling wasn't that threatening and that it was time already to hit out. The next ball I attempted a premeditated swipe down-the-ground. I missed. But the ball didn't miss the stumps and I was out for a duck. My wicket brought Dipayan to the crease to pair with Steve Allender. After last weeks' fast paced scoring, Dipayan was content early to work himself in. An ominous sign for the opposition. Meanwhile, it was Steve who was slashing out. His 50 -- off just 25 balls -- was full of plenty of well timed shots. And not many dot balls. The scoring rate peaked at almost ten-an-over as Dipayan started to come out of his shell. Finally a (second) wicket fell -- Steve out for 78 with the score a healthy 120 for two. Now it was Phil Dines's turn to face the bowling. After a disappointing outing last week, Phil looked determined from the outset to spend some time in the middle. And so it was. For the next thirty-odd overs, Phil and Dipiyan played a masterful innings. Plenty of boundaries and plenty of singles too. The score board was continuously ticking over. And, with an over to go, Dipayan was finally out, caught, for 129. Diganta, who had been waiting -- with pads on -- for the duration of their partnership had to come out to face one ball before walking off with Phil who made 68 not out. At the end of our innings, the score was 304 for three. Tea report: The new tea policy at Manny road continued this week: we again we able to grace the inner sanctum of the club for our tea. A big thank you to Tom Wrobel who made an excellent contribution, raising the standard yet again in the sandwich arms' race. Pulling out all the stops -- including mixing cheese _with_ salad -- was much appreciated. Apart from neat-only tea (my fault for forgetting milk), a successful operation all round. A solid 8 / 10. Their innings: With the sun beating down and the weather more familiar to Queenslad than Oxford, bowling was hard work. The opening bowlers -- Martin and Elton -- both struggled to get the ball moving as much as it had done the previous week. Elton sparked hopes with a wicket in his first over: he tempted their opener into a shot and he played-on to his stumps. But after this, things became more difficult. The bowling was tight -- Martin even managing a maiden at one point -- but the batsmen were unforgiving. Every ball slightly short or wide was punished. As the score crept up, Diganta and Tony took over the hard work. Both were bowling very well in difficult conditions. However a breakthrough was looking as far away as ever. With continued tight bowling, and alert fielding, the run rate was reigned in. At (much needed) drinks, they were 138 for one after twenty overs. After drinks, Dipayan took up the cudgels bowling spin. The change of pace seemed to help restrict scoring. Steve West was hurtling in from the other end causing the batsmen a few problems. Eventually it was Steve, with a short ball, who finally had the breakthrough. A much needed wicket: their batsman out caught and bowled, unluckily for 99. After this, the flood gates opened. The fall of wickets tells the story: 1, 182, 184, 187, 188, 1995, 201, 202, 204, 205 Diganta, Tony, Steve, and Frank, all contributed to mopping up the rest of the batsmen. And, so after last week's 101 run win, this week's effort was similar: a 99 run victory.