Scorecard

Strathearn v Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI on Tue 24 Jul 2007 at 6.30pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Lost 3 runs

Match report After several closely fought contests, Forthill XI found themselves in the dreamy heights of the final of the Two Counties Cup. After months of conjecture concerning the date of the tie, it was finally decided that it was to be played on the 24th July at the ‘neutral’ venue of Doo’cot Park even though Forthill’s opponents Strathearn play all of their home fixtures at this very ground. However, instead of playing on their usual pitch, the closer of the two ovals was used for the final and therefore the venue was given its official ‘neutral’ status and the match given its official go ahead.

After confusion surrounding the meet time at Forthill caused by its head coach and large amounts of rush hour traffic, the team finally congregated at Forthill at 5.15 until Junior realised he had forgotten his wallet which he desperately required for a post match party in Helensburgh. Like father like son it would seem. So Junior shot off back to his house to retrieve the wallet before entertaining queuing traffic with his “100% Party” tape, taking a scenic route through Dundee to ‘avoid traffic’ and setting a new land speed record for the A90 once it was realised that was match was in fact starting desperately soon.

As Doo’cot Park has yet to experience sun in a few decades, it was with no surprise that the match got underway in a dark gloom with rain clouds looming and the blue sky which we at Forthill have become accustomed to – this season in particular – nowhere to be seen. Forthill got off to a tremendous start when Asif clean bowled one of Strathearn’s openers in his first over. He and Kev maintained this pressure and it was not long before wickets were tumbling and Senior seemed in a jubilant mood. Good ground fielding and a reluctance to give away singles helped the cause to no end and at one stage Strathearn were really struggling at 54 for 6. However, the rain clouds soon gave way and it was not long before Doo’cot Park resembled T in the Park….

The bowlers stuck at it well though and refused to allow the torrential downpour to affect their game plan too much. Once Kev and Asif had finished their tight five over spells, they were replaced by Steve and Mo who continued to bowl good lengths and deny the Strathearn batsmen too many scoring opportunities. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and Strathearn finished off all out for 91 in the 19th over, Steve knocking out their number eleven’s leg stump to finish off the innings in style.

Senior seemed very pleased with the performance but the joy was short-lived as it became known that the groundsman was unhappy with the state of the pitch and wished the match to be abandoned. This crazy notion was quickly dismissed after Senior promised him police protection from the rest of the Strathearn team who were clearly not happy with their seemingly meager 91 and the decision was quickly reversed.

So Steve and Junior strode out to open Forthill’s innings. However the going was tough. The slow outfield, the accurate bowling (and perhaps the distraction of Strathearn’s opening bowler tumbling to the ground mid run-up which cynics suggested was perhaps fabricated to indicate the ground’s unplayability…) made scoring very difficult and Forthill were soon behind the required rate of just over four and a half runs per over.

Both openers fell in fairly quick succession and it was left to Finbar and Jalees to try and up the scoring rate. Both batsmen played well and Jalees in particular was looking in ominous form before flicking directly into the hands of deep midwicket for 14. As the overs ticked by and wickets fell, the required rate grew and grew until Forthill required 15 runs off the final over with Finbar on strike. Strathearn clearly did not feel the need to attack in the final over and instead placed nine fielders on the boundary which made boundary hitting very difficult indeed. However, the seemingly infallible plan was clearly flawed: after hitting several twos Finbar strode down the wicket to smash Ivor over cow for six to the considerable delight of the Forthill travelling support and the increasing realisation by the Strathearn players that these negative tactics could come back to haunt them. Three runs were now required in two balls. An emergency cabinet meeting between senior members of the Strathearn team then took place and the field was set. Full credit must be given to Ivor who went on to send down two perfect Yorkers which were not only impossible to score off but also took the wicket of Finbar who had played absolutely superbly. The end result was a loss by three runs but it was a closely contested final and the team can be proud of everything they achieved.

After the game the presentation was a short affair with the winning captain giving a short speech and accepting the trophy with grace. The mood in the dressing room was somber as it was evident that the game had not been out of Forthill’s reach. All except for Junior of course who was busily preparing himself for his drinking session and had dashed off before the rest of team could say ‘Sambuca.’

Although obviously disappointed with the result Forthill can look forward to next season where, if they continue their current trend in the Two Counties Cup, (Semi Finalists – 06, Finalists – 07) they can expect to win.

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
91		        
Steven Sim Lbw  0
Steven Murphy Bowled  7
John Findlay Bowled  40
Jalees Ahmed Caught  14
David Salisbury Bowled  12
Asif Naseer Bowled  1
David Sim Bowled  5 1
Kean Martin Bowled  1
Mo Chatterji Not Out  0
Kevin Karan Singh  
Stuart Tilston  

Strathearn Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
T Dellaguida5.0212112.002.40
C Oswald5.0120210.004.00
R Kirkman3.002500.008.33
I Patterson5.012137.004.20
J Henderson2.001025.005.00

Strathearn Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
94 (0.0 overs)		     
R Kirkman Bowled  20
J Henderson Bowled  0
A Fennell Bowled  2
J Hill Caught  20
C Oswald Bowled  1
A Hussain Bowled  17
S McDonald Bowled  0
T Dellaguida Bowled  11
I Patterson Lbw  0
A Mearns Not Out  1
C Laing Bowled  0

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Asif Naseer5.0024212.004.80
Kevin Karan Singh5.0016116.003.20
Steven Murphy5.002154.204.20
Mo Chatterji4.0027213.506.75