Village Sign
Affiliated to ECB

2015 Match reports

Season 2016 Match Reports


Saturday 30th July

Fen Ditton Vs Lt. Shelford II

Fen Ditton beat Lt. Shelford II by 49 Runs

SCORECARD

A Great Team Performance resulting in a Triumphant Victory!

Last Saturday (30th July), the 2nd XI welcomed Little Shelford to ‘El Campo’ on another sunny afternoon. This week, the team was strengthened with the inclusion of H and Tom to add strength to the batting whilst sticking to the brief of giving youth a chance through fielding four juniors. Little Shelford won the toss and put us into bat on what appeared to be a good batting track with extra bounce. A good toss to lose and this was the opportunity to put to bed some erratic previous batting displays and post a big total.

Mick and Sameer opened up the batting and faced some decent line and length bowling from the two opening bowlers. Both players did well to produce a solid start through punishing the odd wayward bad ball and by the eighth over we were 20 for out loss. Unfortunately, the wheels of the innings started to come off slightly, when Mick miss-timed a half tracker and hit it straight back to the bowler for 6 (I am sure his luck with the bat will return soon!). The loss of Mick, brought H to the crease and he started off well, finding form through hitting two boundaries. All looked good, however, again, we lost our nerve slightly through the loss of two quick wickets with Sameer being caught for 10 and H gloved behind for 8. At this point we were 30 for 3 with Little Shelford being well on top. Could we get the wheels back on the wagon and still post a decent total to defend?

The loss of three early wickets brought Tom and Gilo to the crease, determined to bat some overs and build a partnership. Both players found their form quickly and started to punish the bad balls striking the cherry to all areas over the boundary rope. This, coupled with excellent running between the wickets led to both players working well together to increase the run rate whilst at the same time sapping the strength from the opposition in the mid afternoon sun. Both players simply took it over by over, and with plenty of enthusiasm and encouragement between the pair, they soon reached a century partnership after drinks. The regular boundaries certainly lowered the morale of the players of Little Shelford, which led to an increasing number of erratic balls, resulting in the run rate increasing all the time. Both Gilo and Tom brought up their fifties, with good strikes and at this point we had managed to reach 165 for 3. This fruitful partnership (137 runs) unfortunately ended soon after Tom’s half century, when he was unlucky to top edge a straight one and was caught for 52; a great effort and a confidence boosting knock! Tom’s departure, led to Phil joining Gilo at the crease. Again, both players started to build a partnership, through running well and hitting regular boundaries, until Gilo was finally caught by a quite ‘ridiculous’ one handed diving low catch in the covers for 72. The loss of Gilo, led to Sam arriving at the crease with the run rate of over 5 and over – could we kick on and reach the magical 200 mark with a few overs to go?

Little Shelford brought back their opening bowlers to stem the run rate, the father and son combination ran well between the wickets to take as many singles as possible and we finished the innings on 198 for 5 of 40 overs. A very pleasing total and real belief that a big effort in the field could lead to a big win!

A big score posted, now the focus was on defending the total with a big shift in the field and try to make some early inroads. Mick and Sameer opened up the bowling and Mick quickly obliged finding his line and length to bowl their opener and to get the start we craved. Little Shelford quickly counter-acted this good start with the other opener playing well and punishing any loose balls which had led to them scoring 50 off the first 10 overs and well up with the run-rate. Now it was the time for the junior’s players to have their time in the sun and make an impact! Amelia and Leo replaced Sameer and Mick and bowled incredibly well. Leo produced an excellent 6 over spell with a very consistent line and length resulting in him only going for 14 runs and was unlucky not to take a wicket. Unfortunately for the game, the opener from Little Shelford, whilst playing well, managed to edge a ball from Leo into his grill which promptly caused a deep cut resulting in him retiring hurt and a trip to Addenbrookes. Would this be a turning point?

Amelia, whilst bowling at the other end grasped her opportunity. She bowled 4 fantastic overs with consistent line and length resulting in three further batsman getting frustrated and being caught in the covers through mistimed shots. Excellent fielding from Phil saw him take two fine catches at cover and Sam taking a great catch at deep mid-off! Slowly, we were inserting our dominance on the game through slowing the run-rate and taking decisive wickets. To carry on the success of the juniors, Louie replaced Amelia before drinks. He followed Amelia’s and Leo’s example and bowled really well taking his first ever FDCC wicket with the batsman edging to the keeper – well done Louie! At drinks, Little Shelford were 5 (plus one retired hurt) down with 100 on the card and it was up to us to drive the advantage home.

Post drinks and with the pleasing sight and chants of the majority of the first team returning to the Rec (after their straight forward win) to support and cheers us on, Sam and Tom took over the bowling. The duo bowled tightly with good accurate deliveries and both were rewarded with a wicket each, with Sam bowling their number 6 batsman and Gilo taking a diving catch off Tom’s bowling to dismiss their Number 7. Despite the loss of quick wickets, Little Shelford to their credit kept going and despatched any bad balls to boundary to reach 140 – 7 and were ticking along at four an over. To stem the runs, Mick came back on and soon got his second wicket through a straight forward for LBW decision resulting in 145 – 8. With one wicket required, Gilo replaced Tom and soon claimed the winning wicket in his first over with a good catch from Tom (149 all out) in the covers to spark jubilant celebrations.

This was a real team effort and a triumphant victory for the second team where everybody contributed to a great game of cricket. What is really pleasing was to see the impact of the juniors. Amelia, Sam, Leo and Louie really took their chance to shine and as a result the future for FDCC looks very bright.

A BIG THANK YOU for the support of the first team players in helping us achieve this morale boosting win. It is these moments when it makes you proud to be a member of FDCC.

Gilo