3 games to go and the 1st team headed on the long journey to Limpsfield Chart. With the closure of the M20 the skipper was keen to ensure the team were on time and was irked to see a call from Lush mid journey, only for him to say all was well. Dick.

After an inspection of the wicket the team were torn. No one knew what to do except for Lewis although his vote often comes just after either he is out or he has scored 150. Without question it was a good toss to lose but as is the case these days the skipper calculated the revolutions of the coin mid air and successfully called tails. We will have a bat.

Out went Lewis and Noel and back came Lewis stating he would have bowled first. Joe was next up and next back having middled one onto his pads only to be given out. 8/2 from 2.2 overs (ish) and the mob were turning on the skipper. Fear not as it was Benj to join Noel and the 2 set about a successful rebuild on what was proving to be a difficult wicket. Despite this the pharmaceutical giant batted very nicely with Benj crunching some beautiful cover drives to the boundary and Noel being a little unlucky sometimes to pick out fielders. At drinks Johnston and Johnston had really settled the nerves seeing us to around 90 odd for 2.

In fairness to the opposition they bowled well over the next 4/5 overs slowing the run rate down and it was Benj who fell trying to clear the ropes and push the run rate on for a very well made 48 from 58 balls with Noel on 41* at the other end, 1 run shy of the 100 partnership. Milo was in next having had his pads on since the 3rd over but fortunately was able to take them off 1 ball later. 117/4 and probably 10-12 overs to go. With Pep and Noel in the middle the score moved along nicely with a beautiful 6 from Pep which went to some part of the ground and a couple of 4s to other parts of the ground or potentially the same parts. Meanwhile Noel was at the other end rotating the strike and picking up boundaries where available and in doing so brought up his 5th 50 of the Summer to much applause.

Pep was the next to fall for a much needed run a ball (nearly) 25 departing with the score on 160/5 with a number of overs left that ranged between 3 and 5. Dan Seaman came and went and Noel was very unfortunate to be out next, run out, after the opposition seemingly dropped the ball before breaking the stumps. Stoically he trudged off having batted for 39.3 overs on a difficult pitch for a gritty 72 that unquestionably held the innings together. Well batted. With only 3 balls to go we tried to pile on as many runs as we could and mustered a scorching 2 runs and 1 wicket, Lush falling 1st ball and singles to Shutt (WK) who was 1* and West 4*. 184/8 from our 40. We will need to bowl well.

After some debate over ends it was Alex Lush opening down the hill and Milo up the hill with the very short straight boundary which he was of course over the moon with. It was Lush in to bowl first going for only 1 run and then Milo bowling out a maiden. Pressure would be key to winning this game so a better start we could not have wished for. Except maybe a wicket would have been nice and Alex obliged next ball pinning their opener in front of his stumps LBW! Gone! When I say it pinned him in front of the stumps it certainly pinned him and the stumps were unquestionably behind him but that perhaps was all that was going for it. Who cares though, 1/1! Out came their captain at number 3. Another wicket here and we are laughing. Lush in, full, straight, hits him on the back pad and this one is in front of middle. Plumb! Massive appeal!! Out!!!!!! Out? Umpire? Not out. How this one was not out was a real mystery but not out it was.

Both bowlers were bowling a tight line and the first 5 overs went for a miserly 9 runs before their number 3 took a liking to the short boundary however it was Milo’s next over where the fun and games began. Milo was bowling very well to their left hander who was sitting 3rd in the league’s top run scorers. In comes Milo, forward defense from the lefty and snaffled by Shutt behind the stumps. Out! Huge celebrations. That is pretty much the match!! What a ball! Hang on a second, why is their batsman not moving? Has it not been given not out? Is he not walking? Wow. To say the team were incensed was an understatement. “If I hit it I would walk” the lefty says to Shutt. “I do not accept that, you know you hit it”. Blatant lies. Never mind. Just more incentive to win the game.

It was Lush who made the important breakthrough, removing their number 3 aided by an excellent catch from Benj at mid wicket moving sharply to his right to a well hit sweep (ish) shot only for the Lush Benj axis to strike again 2 balls later! A similar ish shot (well certainly to midwicket and definitely towards Benj) and Benj takes an even better catch diving forward and just managing to get his fingers under the ball. Great catch and 33/3 (should be 33/4). Pep had now replaced Milo at the bottom end with the task of navigating the short boundary bowling an unbelievable first ball that cut their non-walking left hander in 2. Joe replaced Lushy at the top end and was clearly fired up with the lack of sportsmanship firing in yorker after yorker, each one looking more likely than the next to get through. Pulling one back slightly it hit the left hander plumb, massive appeal from Shutt and Waylett! Not out. “I definitely hit that one” the non-walker said to Shutt “Ironic that you could feel that edge” Shutt replied. Another yorker from Joe, fizzed in quicker and the non-walker, non-stop talker, left hander was late on it and his bails are gone!! He is out! Massive celebrations!! Joe was so fired up he nearly knocked Shutt’s helmet clean off. 67/4 and the dangerous Robbins in next.

Benj replaced Joe with 16 overs to go and started well. Robbins had smashed a massive 6, massive, off Joe a few overs before and tried to repeat it swinging across the line. The ball went up. And up. And up. It stayed up, might have then gone further up, swirled a bit with back spin. It looked as though it wouldn’t quite make the boundary but could someone get there? Westy at long off had seen it and was off. His eyes never left the ball, he set himself and just like that he had taken it. An unreal catch made to look very simple. With Robbins out surely that was the game?

With Pep having bowled his 9 and unlucky not to take a wicket, it was Milo back on. He and Benj faced a crucial 10 overs which would really define the game. The oppo still had the win in sight and only needed a run a ball, if that, but Milo and Benj bowled superbly giving very few run scoring opportunities and effectively killed the game. One more wicket would do it and it was Benj who drew their number 5 out of his crease to be well stumped by Shutt behind the stumps. 129/6. Benj then struck again, this time very well caught at cow corner by Joe who had a lot of ground to make, 149/7 and then again in comical fashion after their batsman swung so hard his bat flew out of his hands, narrowly missing Jerry whilst the ball hit Shutt clean in the grill only to ricochet back onto the stumps for the most bizarre of stumpings. 152/8 and with the game won Alex Lush took his 4th wicket with the last ball of the game when their batsman played and missed and inexplicably stood just outside his crease inviting Shutt to throw the ball, which he did, and he was out much to everyone’s surprise. 155/9 at the close and a very well fought win.

Where do we start with this one? Firstly, well batted to Benj and Pep but especially to Noel holding the innings together. Secondly, to the bowlers. The bowling was outstanding with changes being made, ends being swapped, pressure being built and wickets being taken at key moment. All bowlers deserve a lot of praise but the 10 or so over spell from Milo and Benj when then game was in the balance was match defining. Their ability to slow the run rate was key to winning the game. Milo ended with figures of 9-2-29-0, Joe 5-0-28-1, Pep 9-1-38-0, Lush 9-1-21-4 and Benj 9-1-27-4. Thirdly, the fielding. The fielding was nothing short of outstanding with great catches from Benj (2), Joe and Westy and 3 stumpings for Shutt. A superb all round effort to defend 184, a potential banana skin avoided and 2 more cup finals to go.