A win's a win as we see off Haileybury
OCCC 238 for 8 (Cope 66, Crump T 30, Burgess 30) beat Haileybury Hermits 191 (Billings 66, Waters 3-51)
Click here for match photos
After a convincing display to see off Merchant Taylor’s in the first round of the Cricketer Cup, it took a more workmanlike effort to beat Haileybury Hermits by 47 runs in the second round on the Lowers. As Matt Crump, the captain, said afterwards: “It wasn’t one of our best performances but a win’s a win.”
After a convincing display to see off Merchant Taylor’s in the first round of the Cricketer Cup, it took a more workmanlike effort to beat Haileybury Hermits by 47 runs in the second round on the Lowers. As Matt Crump, the captain, said afterwards: “I wasn’t one of our best performances but a win’s a win.”
We lost the toss and were stuck in on a pitch which had received a drenching the day before. As expected, it was a damp early on but aside from keeping a little low at times, played well if a little slow, and the outfield was sluggish meaning boundaries were at a premium.
We lost Seren Waters (0) in the third over to an usually poor shot, caught at gully as he tried to cut a wide delivery, and then Jack Scriven (16) to a leading edge not long after.
Alan Cope(66), by his own admission, owed us some runs and he duly delivered, pushing singles well and keeping the scoreboard moving as Haileybury’s spinners rattled through the overs. With Tom Crump (30), another who had been quieter of late, he added 88 for third wicket.
Crump’s dismissal was followed by a series of cameos, with the remaining batsmen all making starts but unable to go on to play the big innings. Cope looked set for his first hundred in seven seasons when he was strangled down the leg side, a mode of dismissal made worse by the fact the wicketkeeper, out until 4am and not in the best of health, had held on to little else all day.
Michael Burgess (30), Matt Crump (22), Ollie Davis (17) and Elliot Hannah (20*) batted well in the circumstances although as Haileybury had won their first-round match by nine wickets, the general feeling was our score was 20-30 below par.
Our opening bowlers – Matt Crump and Rollings – were again wayward and conceded extras, Rollings’ three no-balls in his first two overs especially painful as under new rules they also result in a free hit. Crump produced his shock ball – the straight one pitched up – to remove one opener while Rollings had the other caught behind by the impressive Burgess.
This brought in Billings, who it soon became clear was going to be the key batsman, looking to have the time and range of strokes his colleagues lacked. He did us two favours, however, twice pushing the ball to Waters in the covers and twice managing to run-out his partner as water’s thunderbolt throw to Burgess left them floundering.
At 70 for 4 we were still in the box seat but Billings was a concern as he started to cut loose, taking a liking to Scriven who had until his penultimate over been strangling the run-rate. Twice he was smashed for six, and in between that came the one moment of controversy as Billings edged, Burgess celebrated and the umpire remained unmoved. The batsman admitted he had nicked it but, as was his right, waited for the decision.
The match turned in the 35th over with Haileybury 164 for 5, the previous four overs having produced 31 runs, and Crump looking to be running out of ideas. Scriven, in his last over, found Billings’ edge, the ball rebounded behind Burgess off his pad but he acrobatically twisted and dived back to hold the catch.
The sense was Haileybury had little more to offer, and so it turned out. Waters, who had taken some tap earlier on, took 3 for 12 in his second spell and Rollings, still struggling for consistency, one more. What had looked to be building to a tense finale half-an-hour earlier turned out to be a comfortable win.
"It was a workman like performance from the team, we didn't perform to our maximum but managed to get the job done,” Crump said. “It’ll be a very tough game against Cheltenham in the next round but a game we are really looking forward to."
Click here for match photos
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| Alan Cope - delivered what he owed |
After a convincing display to see off Merchant Taylor’s in the first round of the Cricketer Cup, it took a more workmanlike effort to beat Haileybury Hermits by 47 runs in the second round on the Lowers. As Matt Crump, the captain, said afterwards: “I wasn’t one of our best performances but a win’s a win.”
We lost the toss and were stuck in on a pitch which had received a drenching the day before. As expected, it was a damp early on but aside from keeping a little low at times, played well if a little slow, and the outfield was sluggish meaning boundaries were at a premium.
We lost Seren Waters (0) in the third over to an usually poor shot, caught at gully as he tried to cut a wide delivery, and then Jack Scriven (16) to a leading edge not long after.
Alan Cope(66), by his own admission, owed us some runs and he duly delivered, pushing singles well and keeping the scoreboard moving as Haileybury’s spinners rattled through the overs. With Tom Crump (30), another who had been quieter of late, he added 88 for third wicket.
 |
| Key moment - Michael Burgess dives to dismiss Billings |
Michael Burgess (30), Matt Crump (22), Ollie Davis (17) and Elliot Hannah (20*) batted well in the circumstances although as Haileybury had won their first-round match by nine wickets, the general feeling was our score was 20-30 below par.
Our opening bowlers – Matt Crump and Rollings – were again wayward and conceded extras, Rollings’ three no-balls in his first two overs especially painful as under new rules they also result in a free hit. Crump produced his shock ball – the straight one pitched up – to remove one opener while Rollings had the other caught behind by the impressive Burgess.
This brought in Billings, who it soon became clear was going to be the key batsman, looking to have the time and range of strokes his colleagues lacked. He did us two favours, however, twice pushing the ball to Waters in the covers and twice managing to run-out his partner as water’s thunderbolt throw to Burgess left them floundering.
At 70 for 4 we were still in the box seat but Billings was a concern as he started to cut loose, taking a liking to Scriven who had until his penultimate over been strangling the run-rate. Twice he was smashed for six, and in between that came the one moment of controversy as Billings edged, Burgess celebrated and the umpire remained unmoved. The batsman admitted he had nicked it but, as was his right, waited for the decision.
 |
| Burgess stares, Billings stands and the catch was not given |
The sense was Haileybury had little more to offer, and so it turned out. Waters, who had taken some tap earlier on, took 3 for 12 in his second spell and Rollings, still struggling for consistency, one more. What had looked to be building to a tense finale half-an-hour earlier turned out to be a comfortable win.
"It was a workman like performance from the team, we didn't perform to our maximum but managed to get the job done,” Crump said. “It’ll be a very tough game against Cheltenham in the next round but a game we are really looking forward to."
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| Seren Waters strikes as the tail folded |
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