Folkestone

Match Report

On an uncommonly fine day at Folkestone, Kieran won the toss and, with a side brim full of in-form batsmen, elected to bat. Patch Mitchell and Pete Cooper (16) were easing themselves into the innings (true track and electric outfield), when the wheels came off spectacularly. Patch was the first to go, followed swiftly by most of the top order, four bowled and one LBW, in a failure of one of the most basic principles of cricket – see ball, hit ball.  At the end of the tenth over, the Stragglers had limped to 43 for 5, and consideration was being given to alternative entertainment as the game seemed to be heading for an early finish. Cricket, however, is endlessly full of surprises and changes of fortune.  James Felton, in at the fall of the fourth wicket, and skipper Kieran calmed things down and began to put some runs on the board. A partnership of 78 did much to increase Straggler confidence, and James was particularly effective at threading shots through the field, reaching his half-century in time to have it acknowledged by a passing Spitfire. KP fell for a careful 17, and James was joined by Archie Brown, the run rate ticking up a notch. James had become somewhat becalmed after passing 50 and was undone by the loopiest of loopy leg spinners, when he offered a very gentle top edge to the keeper for a fine 66. Archie (32), now in tandem with Henry Elliott, was just beginning to let loose, when he was run out at the non-striker’s end, on the second attempt. The ball before had also been redirected on to the stumps, but Archie had made his ground. At least we now had a score to defend, and Henry (23) was doing what he could to get the score past 220, when he was last man out, offering the finest of edges to the keeper in the 34th over (of 35). 209 was very much more than had seemed possible earlier in the innings.

Folkestone’s chase rested on a pair of Maliks, one of whom opened and was quickly underway. KP, opting for ‘pace off’ with Will Evans as a counter to the furious charge of Henry at the other end, had picked a winning approach. Will offered one just a little wider of the off stump. Shaheen Malik took the bait, and launched the ball straight to James, who had been pushed slightly wider and closer to the boundary at long off at the start of the over. The Chairman (3 for 38) was introduced to replace Henry, and struck twice in his first over, the first being the other Malik, well caught off a leading edge by KP at short mid-wicket. The chase faltered briefly, but never really fell behind the required rate. Two more wickets fell on 121 and KP then applied what proved to be the killer change – James (3 for 2) came on for two overs to take three wickets (one a first Straggler catch for Ross Jones Davies behind he stumps), leaving Folkestone on 131 for 8 with 6 overs remaining. Will Chilcott weighed in with his first Straggler wicket, well caught at short extra by, yes, you’ve guessed it, James. A Folkestone chase is never quite over, when Chris Jay bats himself down the order, but the Stragglers had paced the taking of wickets well enough to give Chris a target of 64 runs in 13 balls, and to do so he had to keep on strike. Even with some hard struck boundaries, which seemed to find very large gaps in the field, the target was too much, with the innings closing on 172 for 9, a Straggler victory by 37 runs. It probably didn’t help that the other not out batsman was working on the basis that it was a 40 over game and was still defending stoutly. Straggler fielding was unusually competent, with Freddie Fisher, James F, Pete C racing round distant boundaries and hurling themselves at the hard ground. It was, of course, a great day for James with the bat, with the ball and in the field, and good for the Stragglers to be back to winning ways for the first time since late May.