All-round Waters guides us into final
OCCC 210 for 2 (Waters 100*, Scriven J 69) beat Charterhouse Friars 207 for 8 (Rollings 3-41, Waters 2-21) by eight wickets
Click here for match photos
An outstanding unbeaten hundred from Seren Waters helped guide us to a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Charterhouse Friars in the semi-final of the Cricketer Cup, putting us in our second successive final. It was a clinical performance against a side who seven weeks early had thumped us in a cup warm-up match by 141 runs.
An hour into the game and few would have predicted the margin of the result. Charterhouse won the toss and batted on a pitch which offered little to the bowlers, although, initially, we gifted the batsmen a bounty of extras.
Aside from one wicket – the dangerous James Hamblin loosely driving Will Rollings into the covers for 11 – we looked out of sorts. When Tom Crump put down a routine slip catch off the veteran Mike Chetwode it seemed it was not to be our day, and as Charterhouse brought up their hundred in the 21st over a big total appeared likely.
But then the slow bowlers strangled the innings. Waters, who had been mauled in the quarter-final, was superb, dismissing Hooper (48) and Pike (38) in successive overs, and then aided by Scriven he choked the middle order so that only 60 runs came from their 20-over pairing. From 101 for 1, Charterhouse were floundering at 161 for 6 from 40 overs.
Inevitably, the mounting pressure brought wickets. Adolphus slipped as he was sent back after calling for an unlikely single and failed to beat Waters’ bullet-like throw, and then we held a succession of catches in the deep as batsmen hit out. Our groundfielding was exceptional, even by our high standards, and Matt Crump marshalled his bowlers and set his fields with precision.
Rollings picked up three wickets in three spells, Crump, after a wayward first burst with the new ball, was far more controlled at the death, and Chetwode was as naggingly accurate as ever. A few late blows took Charterhouse past 200 but that always seemed 50 or 60 below par.
They needed early wickets to put pressure on us. Instead, they were ground down by an opening stand of 152 between Waters (100*) and Scriven (69). In an unusual role reversal, Waters took on the aggressor role as Scriven, after an early flurry of fours, played a more subdued and considered innings. The fifty came up inside ten overs, and while our spinners had put the brakes on the innings, Charterhouse’s were unable to do much more than slow down the run-rate.
By the time Scriven fell in the 31st over the game was all but done and dusted. Duncan Allen, on his Cricketer Cup debut, followed soon after for 8, but Waters, pushing singles almost at will, and Cope saw us home.
The only late drama came when it seemed Waters might be deprived of a deserved hundred, but Cope slowed and defended with an uncustomary diligence against tired bowlers, allowing Waters to hoist the winning boundary over mid-on and bring up his century.
A large crowd witnessed our fourth straight home win against a strong side, and, the first hour aside, the completeness of our performance cannot be overemphasised. And so it is back to Wimbledon on August 17 for our third final where we will meet Bradfield, who beat Stowe in the other semi-final.
A final word about Chetwode. To describe him as a stalwart would be to understate his contribution to the club over more than three decades. His wife and daughter even made the lunch as he creaked round the field. As he flagged at the start, he first played on Jubilee more than a decade before any of his team-mates were born; his presence raised the average age of the side by a full five years. As ever, he gave his all, inspired the youngsters and is unlikely to be able to get out of bed for the next few days.
Click here for match photos
 |
| Seren Waters returns after his fifth hundred for the club |
An hour into the game and few would have predicted the margin of the result. Charterhouse won the toss and batted on a pitch which offered little to the bowlers, although, initially, we gifted the batsmen a bounty of extras.
Aside from one wicket – the dangerous James Hamblin loosely driving Will Rollings into the covers for 11 – we looked out of sorts. When Tom Crump put down a routine slip catch off the veteran Mike Chetwode it seemed it was not to be our day, and as Charterhouse brought up their hundred in the 21st over a big total appeared likely.
But then the slow bowlers strangled the innings. Waters, who had been mauled in the quarter-final, was superb, dismissing Hooper (48) and Pike (38) in successive overs, and then aided by Scriven he choked the middle order so that only 60 runs came from their 20-over pairing. From 101 for 1, Charterhouse were floundering at 161 for 6 from 40 overs.
 |
| Mike Chetwode enjoyed his return to Cup action |
Rollings picked up three wickets in three spells, Crump, after a wayward first burst with the new ball, was far more controlled at the death, and Chetwode was as naggingly accurate as ever. A few late blows took Charterhouse past 200 but that always seemed 50 or 60 below par.
They needed early wickets to put pressure on us. Instead, they were ground down by an opening stand of 152 between Waters (100*) and Scriven (69). In an unusual role reversal, Waters took on the aggressor role as Scriven, after an early flurry of fours, played a more subdued and considered innings. The fifty came up inside ten overs, and while our spinners had put the brakes on the innings, Charterhouse’s were unable to do much more than slow down the run-rate.
By the time Scriven fell in the 31st over the game was all but done and dusted. Duncan Allen, on his Cricketer Cup debut, followed soon after for 8, but Waters, pushing singles almost at will, and Cope saw us home.
The only late drama came when it seemed Waters might be deprived of a deserved hundred, but Cope slowed and defended with an uncustomary diligence against tired bowlers, allowing Waters to hoist the winning boundary over mid-on and bring up his century.
 |
| Wickets tumbled as Charterhouse's innings choked, Mike Burgess completing this run-out |
A final word about Chetwode. To describe him as a stalwart would be to understate his contribution to the club over more than three decades. His wife and daughter even made the lunch as he creaked round the field. As he flagged at the start, he first played on Jubilee more than a decade before any of his team-mates were born; his presence raised the average age of the side by a full five years. As ever, he gave his all, inspired the youngsters and is unlikely to be able to get out of bed for the next few days.
Who needs @SMeaker18 when you have this lad... #OCvsOC pic.twitter.com/nL9zpe14VT
— Old Cranleighan CC (@OCranleighanCC) July 27, 2014
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