Sat 11th June 2011

HCL RD1 S

Sway 110-9 CBBEA 106-10   Sway won by 1 wicket

With Sway losing the toss they were asked to take to the field on a humid yet windy day at the jubilee. Dave Steadman opening the bowling from the hare and hounds end set the standards early on, bowling in great areas and having a catch put down.  Grasham then decided to take the centre stage bowling extremely accurately with good pace and bounce. Grasham took the wicket of Maund edged behind and caught by Rubycz. Very next delivery he trapped Wright LBW it could not have been more plum especially as the ball dropped down and landed in between Wright’s feet in line with middle stump. With the hat trick looking possible 4 slips in place and a fired up Grasham the next delivery was right on the money again, the batsmen swiped a noise was made, caught by Rubycz,  11 sway players loudly appealing however it was only contact with the batsmen’s thigh pad.  The prize wicket of the CBBEA captain also fell to Grasham caught behind by Rubycz again, Grasham finishing with imposing figures of 7-15-3. Dave Steadman was doing the less credited but still very important role of keeping the scoreboard down figures of 7-22-0 put real pressure on CBBEA as they were 37 for 3 of 14 overs.

The change bowlers saw Rob Steadman introduced and with immediate impact. A miss-timed shot was caught by Grasham at extra cover, Mclean was removed for 19. Thistleton replaced Grasham and also struck first over bouncing out Light was caught by Jones at Gully for 7. Rob Steadman and Thistleton both bowled impressively keeping the pressure on CBBEA Stedman finishing with figures of 7-20-3 and Thistleton 8-31-3. With sway regularly rattling through the CBBEA line up a small resistance by Mills (15) saw the visitors reach 106.

With Sway dismissing CBBEA after only 31 overs Hall and Clark had to bat for a tricky 6 over spell before tea.  Schulkins from the pavilion end looked a consistent threat as he bowled with great pace and bounce. Sway saw it through to tea without loss, 31 put on the scoreboard a solid start for the home side. Sway went onto make 41 before a pea shooter hit Clark’s back leg and saw him more plumb that the fruit itself.  From the fall of this first wicket some tight bowling, track inconsistencies and poor shot selection were to see Sway in deep trouble. Hall (20) and Atapattu (5) both went to poor shots. Jones was next in getting one that kept low and saw him removed LBW for 1. At  53 for 4 of 16 overs there was still a lot of hard work to be done. Runs were like gold dust and with the track proving tricky Kev Glass and Steve How were playing solidly and putting away the bad ball. How was caught hooking for 10 and when Grasham (9) was given out LBW from a ball that hit the 6 ft. 3 marine just below the hip sway were 75 for 6.  Sway continued to slump to 93 for 9 losing 5 wickets for just 29 runs! Light 10-19-2 and Burt 10-20-4 doing considerable damage to the sway batting attack.

This left the last pairing of Rob Steadman and Steve Thistleton at the crease to chase down 14 which would be one of the biggest partnerships of the match. With Light and Schulkins only having another over left each it was up to the batting duo to see them off, which they did well. Thistleton then began to get his teeth into the change bowlers hitting some nice shots and bringing the scores even. With the last over of the game and Thistleton on strike one run was needed for victory. The sway number 10 picked his ball well hitting the 3^rd ball of the over straight low and hard for 4. Sway had dug out yet another victory which is credit to the teams iron like determination and composure in high pressure situations. A great bowling and fielding performance followed by some iffy batting. Substantial praise goes to Steve Thistleton and Rob Steadman who although have not batted much this season kept their concentration and composure to see Sway home.