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Steeple Langford, April 23 '11 (home)
Blue skies, sunshine and a track that looked like it belonged to mid-season rather than April... the Whiteparish Oval was the
perfect venue for last Saturday's opening match of the 2011 season as Steeple Langford visited for some match practice ahead of the serious
business of the Hampshire leagues that begins in May.
Fielding a mixed XI drawing on both 1st and 2nd teams, Whiteparish had first use of the new ball and Charlie had the dream start, the very first
ball of the match bouncing a little, finding the edge and being snaffled on the second attempt by the Great Bartelli behind the stumps. Good times!
Giving Charlie confidence, he proceeded to deliver a miserly and successful spell, claiming 3 wickets in total and setting the Langford innings
back on its heels. Charles was also presenting problems opening uphill from the Church End, gradually loosening up after a winter of inactivity and
newly doubled parenting duties. He was replaced by Mr Noisy who always enjoys a rumble against his mates from Langford, and the scoring was kept
nicely in check.
Turkleton replaced Charlie from the Football Ground End, and despite some initial wayward and slightly expensive overs, he also picked up a pair
of wickets as the visiting batsmen threatened to self-destruct. As the rustiness was worked off, Turkleton's accuracy returned and his 8 overs
ended in more accustomed fashion with a succession of dot balls.
The final spells of the innings were delivered by Ben Wilkinson, making a rare and welcome appearance on a Saturday, and Barney Orr, who produced
4 overs of good control and accuracy to deny Langford the chance to open up in the closing stages. His flight and guile were rewarded with a brace
of wickets, including a stumping for Bartelli who was continuing his good day with the gloves by flattening the stumps with the batsman well out of
his ground.
A target of 146 looked achieveable, but the side had a bowling-heavy look about it so it would need good contributions from a couple of key players
to see the home side to an opening win. The reassuring form of Inzy Drew provided some balast at the top of the order and he displayed some of his
trademark muscular shots down the ground to get the innings off to a reasonable start, despite the loss of early wickets at the other end. Jonny
Donut's assertion that he only got out for 1 because he didn't want to buy a jug for a 50 was probably stretching the truth a little far, and it
wasn't until Charlie arrived at the crease that the reply looked to gain any real momentum. Ignoring the succession of low scores at the other end,
Charlie took the attack to the Langford bowlers in typical fashion, driving and pulling with excellent timing and no little power. He looked like
he was going to win the game by himself, having cruised to a splendid 70, and was given able support by Ben W who was proving to be a solid foil for
Charlie's aggression. But the departures of these two swung the game back into the favour of the visitors who only needed a single wicket for victory
and 20 or so runs still required.
But cometh the hour, cometh the men, and skipper Lee "better than Jeff Dujon" James, together with Charles "Shaun Pollock's twin" Steenkamp, unveiled
some hitherto unseen textbook shots to take 'Parish over the line.
If every game is as close as this over the coming season, and with the same favourable result, then we will all have had a great year by the end of
August!
Summary
Steeple Langford 146 all out (Charlie 3-?, Turkleton 2-?, Barney 2-?)
Whiteparish 147-9 (Charlie 70, Tubby ?, Lee ?)
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