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RNVR Cricket Club

Scorecard

Reigate Pilgrims CC v RNVR Cricket Club on Sun 23 Jun 2024 at 11.30am
RNVR Cricket Club Won By 108 runs (with one over of the twenty remaining)

Match report RNVR won toss and elected to bat, 222 all out (Pepler 69*, Crichton 38, Kumar 33, Mitchell 3-27, Sugumar 3-70)
RPCC 114 all out (Burgess 25, DK 24, Pepler 3-15)

Skipper Dale led an almost text book RNVR encounter, winning well having batted first but with only one over the final 20 to be bowled. Seven bowlers used on each side and everyone batting. AND substituting for both sides (Callum Watson being late and Potter injured) Yogesh Bhanushali managed to take catches for both sides, eat his own lunch and pay a match fee - then drive his son and nephew home. TOP MAN.

RPCC decided last year to abandon a club day, or President's match, for the then 25th RNVR fixture. Apart from introducing a dodgily awarded silver trophy for the day the only obvious change is that their President very kindly provides the beer, so rather gloriously improving the spirits of all. When combined with Paul Teague, now a constant spectator and former RPCC player, having celebrated his non 60th birthday the day before there was even more beer and even more food than usual.

To matters cricketing:
Selection managed to draft a side with four under twenty year olds, and with the match manager and strike bowler arriving before the hosts the boundary rope was set up at the absolute extremes of the playing area possible. Clearly winning the toss was going to be key too, as Dr Ford has explained in military manoeuvres over the last twenty years. Skipper Dale called correctly and kept his batters in the hottest sun of the year for as long as they could possibly manage it to stoke up the "Hardman Hill" effect of that Guards game of years ago.

Yogesh's son Mriksh joined Ben at the crease to face Michell and Wood at their season's most potent bowling partnership to date and scoring was very tough, indeed 55 for 4 at lunch seemed barely a full morning's work. Will Pollington had promised much; near doubling the score in two overs. Crichton and the (actually) good Doctor steadied the ship before lunch (including an all run 5 - not bad for two 50 year olds) before setting about the afternoon session with gusto with the RNVR scoring at a run a ball for the next 29 overs, after barely 2 an over before.

Pepler and Kumar also built a partnership, Vinay slow to start and supporting Mark, who had the bit between his teeth and was out for anything he could smite, to any intended or otherwise random spot of grass. Potter saw Peps to his 50, and then we all watched in amazement as the fielders, so dispirited that this fluke had occurred gifted him another 40% more in almost no time with lunacy piled upon overthrow. Dale allowed no chitter chatter and the team were drilled and huddled on the way back out in a most quick and alarmingly (to the RPCC elders, Baty, Steed, Mitchell, Bush and Sheldon) professional way.

A suitable field was set for Scotty after 26 years, but it was Adi who looked to have the measure of the attack and dreamt of watching Scotland soonest. A sharp, flat over-head catch by William Pollington, may not have vindicated the selectors' choice in one ball, but it certainly helped guide the match.

Callum Watson is a clean hitter of a hard ball, and the fact that he did not today was testament to the brilliant bowling of Vinay (5 consecutively) Francis and Darsh's maidens. RPCC went 40 balls without a run being scored. Attacking the third ball he'd faced from Darsh was Callum's worst decision in his short day at the cricket. Tex rarely drops any, but has especial form with the hard hit, the high hit or the flat hit, as proven at this ground last year, and he was in a similar position again.

Messers Chinnayan and Vembaiyan are new recruits. Their cricket, apart from one game has been played in India and not on grass, and in far shorter formats of the game. Skipper DK had encouraged them to try a defensive ploy and set themselves up with time on their side. They obeyed, but were not able to change a lifetime's style. Woody was well caught by Sub Yogesh, now on for the fallen Potter. His artful dive earlier had missed the ball but bruised his shoulder and beating the queue for an early shower he tested it manfully with lifting practice while excellently keeping the scoreboard up to date.

DK and Pin were never likely to accept it was over and set abut attempting to match a run rate, in the last twenty, that had risen to 10. Woken, dragon like, from well earned batting induced slumber Pepler orchestrated a series of breathtakingly poor top edges (to Hewens, who also barely misses anything) and general miss-shots that set up a final wicket stand of Mitchell and Sugumar ( a league opening bat on a Saturday), that needed to last 24 balls.

Better it seems at maths than their forebears they set about it sensibly. Guy could not be tempted to re-boot his 50 partnership with Woody in 2022 when they added 50% to the score and won by one wicket.

Nerves rose, the scorer called for Ninian or CC to bowl, hardly helpful. But no less amusing than Penny herself having cheered all of Scotty's fours - which drew quizzical fielders to question the scorer's bias. ("There is none," said Julian "she was just cheering his hundred.")

It took a spectacular bit of mind games from the mathematical doctor to end it all.
With 7 balls remaining he theatrically stopped the bowler and walked as enthusiastically and jauntily as he could muster to short leg, leg gully, and then finally settled at leg slip, CC was encouraged to jiggle at square leg and Benji must have feared a throat ball.

What he got was a perfect opener's delivery, fractionally spitting off a length and seaming away he edged it to the keeper, to his right, at rib height. Taken! The fielders leap. Vinay is in Bertie's arms before he looks around. No signal from Julian. Tension. Voices.

It turns out that Julian Steed an umpire so straight that he never gives an LBW before July and had never previously triggered Scotty in their thirty plus years of friendship (!!), had reasoned that the RNVR would shout for anything with 7 balls left, one wicket to take and runs not an issue. He was probably fairly accurate.

He waited for the bat to walk. The bat waited to be invited to. It took Guy to tell Benji he was out and the smiles and handshakes could return.

All that remained was the cup. Having been absent from their trophy cabinet for a year and a week the Joss Hunt Cup was missed. Could it be won by a Pilgrim, and if so how? Using the wisdom of Solomon and the adjudicator having played for RPCC under the previous two skippers, for both of whom DK had provided the fullest of vice services, it seemed easily understandable that, in a mildly Hensher Cup sort of way, actual talent and performance on the day could be acknowledged, but Spirit rewarded. DK's new accession and the generous and supportive way he had led his team was the winner, even more than Guy's amazing food. The cup is returned and perhaps that is a more fitting use of this trophy, in future, given to remember John Hunt's late wife in 2000, and which amazingly he first had awarded to himself. The paradox plate lives on.


RNVR Cricket Club RNVR CC Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
12nb 4w 10b  
for 10 wickets
26
222		        
Ben Dale ct Kartick Prasanna, b MITCHELL 8 27 28 1 28.57
Mriksh Bhanushali ct Adi Rajasopalan, b SUGUMAR 8 59 50 16.00
Ed Hewens ct Sub (Yogesh Bhanusali), b PRASANNA 7 38 19 1 36.84 2
Will Pollington ct Sub (Yogesh Bhanusali), b PRASANNA 13 19 10 2 130.0 1
Charlie Crichton b SUGAMAR 38 45 31 7 122.58
Tex Warnes st Adi Rajasopalan, b SAKIA 18 46 29 2 62.07 1
Darsh Bhanushali b SUGAMAR 0 2 3 0 1
Mark Pepler Not Out  69 92 61 11 113.11
Vinay Kumar ct Adi Rajasopalan, b MITCHELL 33 56 40 5 82.50 1
Bertie Vacher b MITCHELL 0 4 3 0 1
Francis Potter Not Out  2 20 12 16.67

Reigate Pilgrims CC Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Guy MITCHELL13.042739.002.08
Michael WOOD7.03800.001.14
Kartick PRASANNA8.0133216.504.13
Benji SUGUMAR13.0270323.335.38
Pinak SAKIA5.0133133.006.60
Thiervethaven VEMBAIYAN2.001900.009.50
Callum WATSON2.002200.0011.00

Reigate Pilgrims CC Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2w 1b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
5
114 (44.0 overs)		     
Scott BURGESS lbw HEWENS 25 97 76 5 32.89
Adi RAJASOPALAN + ct Pollington, b POTTER 6 3 9 1 66.67
Callum WATSON ct Warnes, b Darsh BHANASHALI 22 46 46 3 47.83
Balamurugan CHINNAYAN ct Kumar, b HEWENS 14 13
Michael WOOD ct Sub (Yogesh Bhanushali), b POLLINGTION 3 10 14 21.43
Thierethaven VEMBAIYAN b POLLINGTON 0 2 3 0
Dilushan KANAGARAJAH (DK) * ct Darsh Bhanushali, b PEPLER 24 41 26 3 1 92.31
Pinak SAIKA ct Hewens, b PEPLER 19 46 43 2 44.19
Kathick PRASANNA ct Hewens, b PEPLER 8 8 8 2 100
Guy MITCHELL Not Out  0 12 19 0
Benji SUGUMAR ct Vacher (+), b KUMAR 1 11 14 7.14

RNVR Cricket Club RNVR CC Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Vinay Kumar12.0616116.001.33
Francis Potter5.0121121.004.20
Darsh Bhanushali7.03818.001.14
Ed Hewens8.011728.502.13
Will Pollington4.0121210.505.25
Mark Pepler6.021535.002.50
Tex Warnes3.01800.002.67