Castle Rising v. Notts Forest In the 80 or so years that Notts Forest have been playing Castle Rising, there cant have been many games as tense as this one! After a couple of months of the weather alternating between heavy rain and intolerable heat, we finally got a pleasant day for cricket; something the Rising fielders were grateful for when, as tradition and common sense dictated, Forest elected to bat first on a flat-looking track. With half the Rising side looking decidedly delicate from an evening/night/morning of partying, Chairperson Hayes stepped up to the plate and opened the bowling, creating a couple of half chances which weren’t quite snaffled by the Rising fielders. Ward kept things tight from the other end, but without any help from the pitch whatsoever, Shaw and Brooks scored steadily, Shaw looking especially strong through mid on. With the partnership passing 100, drinks were taken, and nearly produced the traditional effect, as Shaw just cleared the fielder on the square leg fence off a Hudson bouncer. Hudson got the wicket his effort deserved soon after, deceiving everyone (himself possibly included!) with a “slower ball bouncer” which knocked back Brooks’s (45) middle stump to end Forest’s 140 run opening partnership. Shaw brought a brilliant hundred up soon after, and having been joined by South Africa U19’s Bedingham, continued to pile the runs on. Despite good consistent bowling from Marsh and Hudson, Bedingham passed his 50 in just 24 balls with some incredible hitting, the likes of which haven’t been seen at Rising since Hayes took apart the President’s team’s bowling 3 years ago. With heads down, a moment of brilliance was needed to give Rising some momentum, and it was provided as Rosh relinquished the gloves and took the ball instead, somehow finding swing with a very battered ball. He first bowled Bedingham (54 from 26) on 222, and then Shaw for 120 from 119 balls. Rosh still had time to pick up the wicket of Lyas before Forest declared on 259-4, Rosh’s figures of 3-23 standing out on a wicket offering very little for pace bowling. Some excellent batting from Notts Forest, and a determined effort from Rising’s fielders left Rising a target of 260. After a chocolate doughnut got the better of Hayes at tea, Rising didn’t get off to the best start with the bat, Rosh unlucky to pick out Brooks at midwicket. Robert Wilson (15) hit some superb strokes through the covers, before Carter (2-28) picked up his second wicket. Chunky’s resilient innings was brought to an end as Brooks claimed his second catch, this time off Plesance (1-15). At 26-3 Rising looked a way off their target, but with plenty of overs left in the game, Ward and Poll could take their time to start with. The final twenty over started with Rising needing more than 140, and consolidation turned into acceleration as Ward and Poll started to attack a bit more, bringing up the 100 partnership in the process. With 12 overs left and 100 still required, the pair decided that “just batting” probably wasn’t enough any more, and a concerted effort to up the rate was required. Having hit 12 from the first four balls of an over and looking odds-on to cement his legacy at number 4 with a second hundred in 3 innings, Ward was bowled off his pads for 87, ending a stand on 175 for the 4th wicket. Hudson started in impressive style, launching his first ball back over the bowlers head for 6. He carried on striking the ball well, providing the impetus the innings needed and allowing Poll to bring up his hundred as the target of 260 looked within reach for the first time in the game. Lyas swung things back in Forests favour as he bowled Hudson (20 from just 14 balls) with a brilliantly flighted delivery, and Crome-Russell (2) two balls later as he too batted selflessly in pursuit of the target. With Carter bowling a tight penultimate over, good running by Marsh and Poll was needed to keep Rising on course. 7 were needed off the final over. Lyas started perfectly, with a dot and the wicket of Poll for 115: 7 runs needed for Rising, 3 wickets for Forest, 4 balls remaining. Chima came to the crease, batting at 9 due to injury, which fortunately didn’t impede him as he lofted his first ball brilliantly wide of mid on just a foot short of a maximum. The next one he crashed through the covers, and three runs were scampered to seal a remarkable win for Rising. A fantastic game was played in excellent spirit, as the game swung one way then the other. Many thanks to all who contributed to teas, to Notts Forest for such a brilliant game with great support, and Chris Milsom for resplendent scoring as always!
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 20:48:01 +0000
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