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As the new Pope said for those who do
not have the Latin, Urban flew off into orbit here, a promising
Gents’ batting line-up having the talent but not quite enough
self-belief to win. After a blistering, unbeaten Scott Kirk 79 saw
Urban post their usual formidable total, The Gents fell gradually
shorter and shorter of the required run rate as the innings
progressed. A fairly comfortable victory for the visitors then but
it did not look that way on 99/6 or 125/7, with The Gents for the
second game in a row catching everything. But Urban rattled up 45
runs in the final five overs and with that won the match. Though one
senior Gent felt them a tad patronising towards the end, Urbans
rattled through the sportsmanship test, not once polluting the
fixture with an unsporting run out or refusal to walk off a catch.
The Gents’ recent record against them makes sorry reading. A Dhruv-inspired
2001 victory was the only one since Mr. Ashton’s fifty led his side
to a narrow win in 1996.
The run up to the game saw late changes aplenty but one has to have
a cut-off point somewhere, so there was no place for Nabil, who
became available at midday. The Gents could have done with him but
the stand-ins performed admirably and bonded well. Sanjay bowled
Howard early doors to herald The Gents’ best period of the match.
Kalra edged Nilesh low to a diving gully Justin before the guest
juggled then caught the dangerous Joseph at cover, again off the
skipper.
Bush was brutal but when Gathercole, a parry and catch effort by
slip Dhruv, and him departed (Buck returning the compliment) Gent
tails were atwitch. Alas, Kirk was striking the ball very well,
going on to strike 12 fours, four of them in a single Hemin over. He
did not give a chance. There were further catches for Moon Cat at
mid-wicket and an excellent doubleton for HP late on, including a
stunner of an edged full toss that he caught via his throat, but
they were rare upbeat moments in the onslaught.
Totals of this size are rarely chased successfully at this level but
after working so hard it would have been a pity had The Gents
capitulated. Things did not look good though when Howard induced a
Moon Cat edge to slip Bush via the gloves of ’keeper Naidoo and
bowled HP, but Dhruv and Justin did well in their differing styles
at the beginning and end of the innings, the former’s innings ending
gracefully when he walked after a fine nick that the umpire did not
hear, though everybody else in the park did. The soft dismissal of
the skipper, caught and bowled off a part-time spinner, Charlie
Clift, he had just blasted for two fours, was disappointing and
though runs came steadily after that point they did not come quite
fast enough. In truth, Urban were pretty comfortable at this stage
and Kirk was able to use eight bowlers, including Graham Young’s
brother (yes, like Mike and Bernie Winters there are two of them).
Justin, and to a certain extent Hemin and Ken, batted themselves
into form though a rare 150 total against this oppo proved
ultimately elusive.
Urbans’ fielding was top rate, led by three-catch hero Mr. Bush. And
talking of Bush, no praise can be high enough for Mr. Gilkes, who
coupled square-leg umpiring with Beaver Patrol duty, keeping the
younger Gents duly informed by mobile phone of the whereabouts and
disposition of the park jailbait, though by all accounts nobody had
a crack at it. Never mind, as the young popsies performed a brief
girl on girl routine, which our spies describe as being bang on.
Finally, we note that the game started at 1.30pm and ended at
6.35pm. The tea break was longer than usual to give the Urban sprog
a bat, so it took about 4.5 hours to bowl (when you add in the
ludicrous 38 wides) 75.3 overs, a very good rate indeed helped by
the relative infrequency with which The Gents found the boundary. |
