In what had been predicted as a tight affair, St John’s strolled through their second round cuppers match against a lackluster St. Catz side. The new look bowling attack of the home side made short work of the opposition’s batting line up, and a comfortable win was eventually closed out for the loss of only one wicket. The result came as somewhat of a surprise, with St John’s starting the match as underdogs against their higher league opponents. However, St Catz were missing their Blues opening bat, and were struggling with numbers at the start of the game. Thankfully, after winning the toss, St John’s skipper Evans-Young chose to bowl, allowing the Catz latecomers to arrive before it harmed their teams chances.
Despite conditions seeming to favour the batsman, it was clear from the off that the away side would be in for a long day. John’s have been fortunate this year to make one or two key additions to their bowling line-up, the most obvious being that of Roscoe Roman. The imposing South African troubled the with his aggressive style but, frustratingly for him, the pitch seemed to show little life, and his shorter deliveries failed to reach the height desired. Despite the constant threat of Roman’s pace though, Catz captain Patel began to settle nicely into his innings, avoiding one or two close calls and managing to control the strike.
The deadlock was finally broken at the other end, with Mike Jones finally getting the wicket he deserved after a spell of accurate swing bowling. A cross bat shot took the top edge, and was pouched comfortably by the bowler. The next ball bought even more success, as Ryan Taylor suffered being bowled by Jones for a golden duck. But with their backs against the wall, St Catz rallied and began to put together their first meaningful partnership. Patel continued to play well, and was, for once, ably supported. When Roman was taken off after ten overs, it looked as though the worst had been weathered. However, the introduction of Elstrop, another new recruit for John’s, meant this was not to be. After only giving away 10 runs in his first five overs, he finally broke the partnership with a contentious LBW decision.
The Catz innings now seemed to hinge on the performance of Patel. Unfortunately, he was run out by Berend in a bizarre piece of decision making by the new batsman at the wicket. Having not faced a ball, and clearly eager to get on the strike for the first time, he called a suicidal single to midwicket, leaving his captain stranded. The desolation on Patel’s face made it clear that St Catz’ best chance of making a defendable total had just disappeared, out for 23. Despite Elstrop being taken off soon after, the Catz wickets continued to fall. The introduction of the left-arm spin of Vice Captain James Earle had the Catz lower order in all sorts of trouble as they attempted to play off the back foot on a pitch which had been keeping low all day. The result was that the spinner ended up with impressive figures of three wickets in five overs for 12 runs.
Now well into the tail, St John’s chose to bring back Roman for his final overs in an attempt to kill the game off. However, despite clearly being too quick for the tailenders, he somehow failed to get a wicket, eventually bowling out his overs and finishing with none for seventeen off eight. But with Earle steadily taken wickets at the other end, and batsman Deane seemingly the only one attempting to play any shots, the end was not long in coming. The return of Elstrop with Catz nine wickets down signalled the end, and he only needed one ball to condemn the visitors to a paltry 87 all out.
Over lunch the attitudes of the two sides were markedly different, and the game seemed over before Catz had even taken the field. The confidence of the John’s team was proven to be correct however, as openers Lawton and Wintour set about steadily making their way towards the target. Despite some quality bowling from Evans from the Pavilion End, luck seemed to be siding with the home team, as several edges managed to avoid the fielders. Wintour especially was treading a fine line, surviving several close LBW shouts, before eventually dollying one up to extra cover. However, Patel could not make it stick, and Wintour advanced to forty two before finally being bowled out, with St John’s 87-0.
Although now merely a formality, number 3 Eugene Duff seemed surprisingly nervous as he faced his first few deliveries. With only one run to win, and perhaps conscious of his worryingly low average this year, the Etonion played tentatively throughout to find that elusive single.
Thankfully though, Lawton proceeded to crash a ball through the covers for four, thus taking him to 44 and confirming the John’s victory, and bringing to an end Catz chances of proceeding in Cuppers this year. For St John’s however, a place in the quarter finals awaits, and they must be feeling confident after this performance.
