OMCC v Oundle Rovers
Never in doubt. No one at Malvern yesterday could ever say the above at any stage up until the third ball of the last over of the match but those were the words ringing around the Malvern College dressing room at the end!
We had another recent leaver Tommy Boorman (2.18-23) playing his first match and what a contribution he made to our victory. He was the only change to the team from the Clifton match, so we were still missing several top players but confidence was high.
Josh Haynes (5.12-17) won the toss and elected to bowl on a dry but fairly green wicket and a possible threat of rain later in the day.
The ‘veteran’ Mark Hardinges (1.91-96) opened the bowling with Liam Smith (5.10-15). Mark bowled 8 overs at a good pace and showed his county cricket experience by hitting the seam on the green wicket and finishing his spell with 2-20 but could have had a couple more as he beat the bat many times. Alex Milton (5.10-14) behind the stumps caught 3 excellent catches especially the third one diving low to his right off Freddie Wynn (7.10-15).
Oundle were scoring steadily and the third wicket didn’t fall till 80 at which point the scoring rate increased to over a 100 on the board. A big score looked a possibility but the Malvern bowlers kept it tight – brilliantly supported by excellent fielding – a big bonus of having such a young side.
A late flurry of wickets helped restrict the final score to 240-8. A score judged as par as the wicket was dry and the green worn off but still needed one or two of our batters to get a big score.
Sadly 4 of our top 5 batters managed to get themselves out with bad shots and at 89-5 the situation looked very grim but in came Joel Cox (5.18-23) who scored a fine 63 at Clifton in the last round and he was joined by Tommy Boorman another recent leaver and this year’s College Captain. Both showed great maturity and built a partnership of great quality, no rash shots but scored at a good rate and gradually they took control of the innings and edged us nearer and nearer to a possible but at one stage highly unlikely victory.
Joel was finally out for 98 and Tommy for 50. 220-7. 21 needed and 5 overs to play. A wicket at 230 – 11 needed in 3 overs -4 scored in over 48. 6 scored in over 49 – 1 to win in over 50. First ball is blocked, second ball another wicket! Still one to win with 4 balls left and No 11 Liam Smith strides to the wicket – Oundle in chaos over the field to set. Ball bowled and Liam smashes it to the boundary. Match won. Phew!
From 89-5 it really was a remarkable win and huge congratulations to Joel and Tommy – the new kids on the Malvern block.
We now play our fiercest adversary, Tonbridge in the Cricketer Cup Final at the beautiful Arundel Castle cricket ground on Sunday 13th August. Play starts at 11:30am and wWe hope many of you will come and support the OMs in what will be our 17th Final, which is a remarkable achievement.
Report by Bryan Richardson (3.57-62)
President OMCC