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Fawley II, May 14 '11 (away)
With Fawley's 1st XI playing in Premier 3, a trip to a big club ground always offers the possibility of playing on a firm
wicket, quick outfield and against some quality players, and that's exactly what greeted the 1sts as they made the trip to
the western edge of Southampton to play in the shadow of the refinery on Saturday.
Fresh from their opening win against Havant, the side were keen to test themselves against a team who are likely to be there or thereabouts at
the end of the season, and were invited to bat first when Richie lost the toss. Inzy Drew and Paddy were the first to experience a deck with
some pace and bounce, and a pair of opening bowlers who were distinctly lively by the standards of our league. It looked like it might just be Paddy's
day as he glided a classy boundary through the offside, the extra pace and bounce lending itself to his back foot game, but it wasn't to be as
he chipped to square leg. Inzy and JD battled hard but couldn't make much headway, and it was left to the skipper and Trucklo to weather the storm
and get the innings on track. This they did in a partnership of 63, Trucks being the more aggressive partner hitting hard straight and over mid-wicket
while Richie used the pace provided to angle and steer the ball away. Richie's dismissal for a grafted 21 heralded the arrival of Josh "Mr
Cricket" Green to the crease, with instructions from the captain to keep Trucks company. Josh interpreted this advice as having a go at pretty
much anything that came his way, so it was something of a surprise when Trucks was the next man to go, out for a powerful 54.
Jonny Donut only lasted 2 balls, and 'Parish were in a bit of trouble at 116-6 after 33 overs, the pursuit of batting points and a decent total
looking a little forlorn. But that was before Josh got the bit between his teeth and, along with Turkleton, put on 79 in the final 9 overs in what
turned out to be the crucial partnership of the match. The pair ran hard between the wickets and Josh targeted the arc between mid-wicket and long-on
to good efect to hit a succession of boundaries. Even the returning opening bowlers weren't immune from his dismissive treatment, a 6 back over
long-off probably being the shot of his innings. He finished the innings by taking 18 off the final over, and 'Parish ended up just 5 runs away
from maximum batting points, a total that looked a long way off 40 minutes earlier. Josh walked off to a deserved ovation from his team, having
raced to 69 not out, and Turkleton could be pleased with his own contribution of 23 not out, playing an effective foil to Josh's belligerence.
The Fawley reply began with a mixture of quality strokes interrupted by regular wickets as the 'Parish bowlers chipped away at the home side's
batting line up. Trucks struck first, Bambi holding on at square leg to give the seamer his first wicket in Whiteparish colours, befor Turkleton
bowled the other opener through the gate and Charles hit the off stump of the dangerous and elegant number 3 who had looked in prime touch. When
Josh held on to a skyer at cover to give Turkleton his second victim, Fawley were 90-4 and the game in the balance, Charles finishing a great spell
with 10-4-25-1.
At this stage, a partnership of 80 should have won the game for Fawley as they moved to 170-4, needing 26 from 8 overs with 6 wickets left. But then
a quite remarkable collapse saw the momentum shift again, triggered by an excellent catch in the deep by Trucks off Paddy's bowling to break the
dangerous union that had threatened to take the game away from 'Parish. Another quality take on the square leg boundary, this time by Jonny Donut, gave
JD his first wicket and saw the back of the other Fawley run scorer, promting some celebrations from the 'Parish fielders and a few words exchanged
with the outgoing batsman. All heat of the moment stuff, and everyone kissed and made up at the close of play, but it illustrated that emotions
were running high as the visitors sensed a chance to get back in the match.
Richie brought the field in, attempting to strangle the new batsmen and make them try to hit JD over the top, and the plan worked a treat as consecutive
players went for the drive only to be caught by Richie at mid-off or Josh, continuing his good day, at mid-on. The final wicket was courtesy of
another good catch, this time by Turkleton away to his left at backward square, which gave JD his 5th wicket and figures of 5-39. All his 5 wickets
came in the space of 12 balls which emphasised just how rapid the collapse had been, Fawley ending on 183 all out, 'Parish claiming what had
looked like an unlikely win by 12 runs.
A great game of cricket, featuring some high class batting, bowling and catching from both sides, with fortunes ebbing and flowing throughout. Quite exhausting really.
Summary
Whiteparish 195-6 (Josh 69no, Trucks 54, Turkleton 23no, Richie 21)
Fawley II 183 all out (JD 5-39, Turkleton 2-52)
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