The Philanderers v I Zingari, Sunday 18th August at Fitzwilliam
Phil Harvey
As the replacement Match Reporter I have a problem in that I missed the opening hour of the game. That aside I have to say that I am mightily pleased that our inaugural fixture with IZ, founded in 1845, actually took place as they were struggling to raise a side. However, we generously donated two of our superstars, namely Ben Cassels & David Pimblett, to complete their line-up.
IZ lost the toss in this 80 over declaration match and captain Ed chose to put the club into bat. The hour before my arrival appears to have passed uneventfully apart from Ben Cassels' apparently excellent catch to remove Finn Karsten before he had got into his stride. So much for generosity!
The first half of The Philanderers' innings comprised the steady accumulation of runs against a good bowling attack without the loss of too many wickets. Then the scoring rate began to accelerate initially through Dougie Turner who eventually departed having made an excellent 59 and sharing a 4th wicket partnership of 40 with Ed Pearson. Following the fall of a couple more wickets fairly rapidly Jamie Rutt entered the fray on this his most successful ground and joined Ed for a high octane fruitful unbeaten 7th wicket partnership of 72 before the innings was declared after 42 overs with the score at 227 for the loss of 6 wickets. The two not out batsmen returned to the Pavilion with Jamie on 27 and Ed on a cultured 64.
After tea I Zingari had 38 overs to gain victory but by the time that 40 was on the board 3 wickets had fallen cheaply to the hostile bowling of Rutt (2) & Sherwin. However, this was followed by a spell of attractive aggressive strokeplay from the Granta wicket keeper batsman Sam Serby who threatened to take the game away from The Philanderers. That is until the top of his off stump was clipped by a ball from Finn Karsten and he departed for a very well struck 81. Thereafter the innings of IZ declined somewhat with wickets falling at fairly regular intervals as the club slowly wrested back a degree of control. However, the last few overs were tense with both sides having a sense that victory could be theirs.
The final over saw The Philanderers requiring three wickets and IZ needing 8 runs for victory. In the event the tension was diminished when their captain Tom Clarke was removed second ball for 67, caught Chandraker bowled Karsten, and only 2 runs were scored thereafter. Neither side therefore achieved its aim leaving that most delightful of English inventions a thrilling draw as probably the rightful outcome. The most successful bowlers were Finn Karsten 2/17, Mihir Chandraker 2/38 & Jamie Rutt 2/52.
An excellent first ever encounter between the two clubs and which I hope will continue for a long time to come. However, your Fuhrer was quite excited and noisy beyond the boundary towards the end of the game and which is not the first occasion that this conduct has been encountered!
​© The Philanderers Cricket Club 2018
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