And the pitch had appeared quite benign on first inspection; neither a belter nor a sticky one, creating some doubt in the team and the skipper's mind as to what to do when Iggy inevitably won the toss again - for a staggering twelve times in succession (which now suggests that he's been taking lessons from Derren Brown, convincing the opposition skippers that they're seeing whichever side of the coin he tells them).
In went Ev and Ange, the latter undone by a corker of a ball that bowled him for a duck, then Barney helped Ev get the total past a dozen before being caught behind for four, bringing AndyB to the wicket for his debut innings for the team. A couple of balls later he'd been adjudged LBW by home team umpire Kalu, both of whom sought verification of their viewpoint from the DRS well into the evening. AB fell victim without scoring to a caught and bowled with the total still on 15 and a few runs later Ev was caught behind off a "shite ball" from the same bowler: 18-5.
By now the eventual No.11 had suggested that the original No.11 on the scorecard go in a bit earlier, being a considerably better batter. As suggestions go it was a no-brainer and quite possibly a match-winner, as Iggy and Asad rebuilt the innings from scratch and began to dominate the bowling attack. After those initial tortuous opening overs with wickets tumbling, the fifty came up in no time with both batsmen knuckling down and punishing the bad balls. With power and good shot selection Asad initially outscored the skipper, who from the outset oozed determination and intent, playing himself in and forging a vital partnership of 73.
With five boundaries in his essential 39 it was Asad who went first, caught at long on with the score a little rosier, but still a bit poorly on 91-6: Enter Ollie, who after looking rather unsteady to start with, made himself at home under Iggy's wing before playing back and launching his own assaults upon the opposition prey, inflating both the run rate and the total higher than could have been dreamt of earlier. Up, up and away, past the dizzying heights of 100, then 150, the pair done good.
As Iggy scooped the ball into gaps, reached his fifty and the Cowboys moved from grief to euphoria, so the Oldfield Park XI's spirit crashed, burned and ate its own tail. Ollie eventually plundered seven boundaries in his rapid fire innings of 35 from a couple of dozen balls, all the more remarkable given his relatively slow and uncertain start. When he holed out he'd put on 91 with Iggy and exactly doubled the score: 182-7.
There was some concern, what with all the balls that had been smacked into the hedges by the Cowboys' middle order, that there may not be enough left to finish the game: Enter Kalu, a man sometimes permanently preoccupied with the desire to launch the ball into space and beyond. Happily he kept it to the confines of the county, playing deft late cuts as well as hearty blows. Iggy meanwhile had cracked a six at the other end in addition to the other nine boundaries and was not alone in daring to wonder whether he could face enough balls and hang around long enough to reach three figures. Alas, the truth of the dare was that after a fine captain's innings he fell caught and bowled for 77.
Kalu kicked on from there, taking the score past 200 with Garnier, who farmed the strike to his partner and hit his own boundaries on the way to his highest innings total for five years and the Cowboys' largest total all season: 237-9. Blaming the scorers, on the last ball of the innings had he realised that it was such, he might not have run out Kalu for 21.
Everyone was to blame, or thank for the tea, being as it was a co-operative, communal affair. It certainly led to a wealth of variety and the leftovers would have fed a family of refugee badgers for a week.
A well-fed chirpy home team took to the field to defend six an over. Neither Garnier nor AndyB let them get anywhere near that but the opening batsmen were still resolute, infamously stubborn to remove. Though economical, Garnier seemed to have trouble with his radar from the bottom end and while AndyB frequently threatened to take a wicket there was still no breakthrough after a dozen overs. Tim and Kalu then chanced their arms, still keeping things tight and building pressure on the batsmen, who were losing sight of their required run rate despite passing a half-century partnership together.
Tim's skiddy seamers often found the edge and pads, but the umpire was not only immovable but affronted by the frequency of LBW appeals, leading to the conclusion that he was missing a page from his copy of the relevant laws. Kalu finally claimed the first scalp in the 20th over, thanks not only to Ollie's smart catch behind the stumps but the batsman's self-ejection for 32, removing the umpire's involvement by walking after a faint snick: 63-1. Like proverbial buses, another two wickets arrived that same over as Kalu flighted, spun and deceived the next men out for ducks; the first bowled, the second caught by Ollie. Stunned by three quick blows, the opposition now required more than eight an over against a home side brimming with confidence and a bagful of bowling to come.
After another tight five overs Kalu clung on to a smart return catch that he didn't have time to think about dropping, but unfortunately the same could not be said of Ange, who dropped a tame lob to silly mid off a couple of overs later to deny Kalu his fifth wicket in his last over. Shed not a tear, dear reader, but rejoice in Ange's redemption and salvation a ball or three later, when he bagged a sharp one, propelling Kalu jugward to 5-27. A very small boy on the boundary edge was confused by the cheering: "Did you do a good bat dad?" he shouted to his father who'd been at the crease since the start. "Yes", came a sheepish reply, which was by and large true until Ev bowled him a few overs later: 98-6.
A couple of overs each from Ev and Iggy further tightened the screws on the opposition's innings, after which two each from Asad and AB swiftly brought it to a close: Asad hit the stumps with the first ball directed towards them and AB had similar radar adjustments before striking twice in one over to snuff out a tail he was too good for. One opposition batsman had declined to make the journey to the crease, thus the innings was closed on 120-9 and the Cowboys had won by 117 runs.
Iggy's splendid rescue knock of 77 won him Man of the Match, while Ange's drop and redemption came top of the pile of Cider Moment nominations, another couple of which involved Kalu's masterful spell. Big ups to Garnier and Ange for ale and pizza provision.
Scorecard
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