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CLEARING (IS) THE WAY FORWARD
As we move into the part of the season where the gritty becomes all things nitty, a Wyatt-less Pompey 2s were able to overcome a spirited South Wilts 3s outfit on Saturday, by 61 runs.
The ground at St Helens was in scarcely believable condition, thanks to some properly-assembled covers, and the freakishly quick-drying properties of our exposed HQ. A deck as dry as Matt Chapman’s beer fridge, combined with cloudy overheads made a dilemma out of deciding whether to bowl or bat first. Pompey’s stand-in skipper James Christian ended up winning the flip, and wisely chose to bat first.
With Nicky Wyatt sitting out with a back knack, Matt Shaw assumed opening duties with Jamie Mitchell, and the makeshift pair got the side off to a more than solid start – passing 50 for the first wicket before Mitchell copped one that kept low, to be trapped lbw for 24. In an odd tribute to his fallen comrade, Shaw then “did a Mitch” a few overs later, slapping a catch to mid-wicket, to depart for 31.
This led to a nightmare for the scorers, as similarly-built specimens (in the loosest sense of the word) and almost identically attired, Will Smitherman and Captain Christian, joined one another in the middle, and almost immediately began striking the ball with a cleanliness completely at odds with the state of the home changing room. Thoughts of a 300+ score weren’t completely laugh-out-loud ridiculous, as Smitherman passed 50 - however, a wild swipe on 58 brought a different kind of howling, as his stumps were redistributed.
Christian sauntered past 50 not long after, but could be considered unfortunate to be caught at short fine leg for 57. With score expectations suitably tempered, James Holder anchored the remainder of the innings with 27 not out, while Paul Hungerford navigated the final few overs more expertly than his train-hopping. Hungerford’s hustle between the wickets (nearly lapping Holder at one point) helped Pompey post a most adequate 266 for 7 from their 45 overs.
The South Wilts openers got off to a flyer in response, taking particular toll of an off-colour Joe Kooner-Evans, but even form philly, Ishy Ahmad, copped his share of punishment. Pace taken off the ball at Kooner-Evans’ end helped provide a semblance of control, which allowed Ishy to make inroads – removing an opener lbw (maybe Micky H’d), and cleaning up the visiting No. 3 (and presumably a Bake Off fan) with a showstopper of a delivery, which earned him what looked like a Hollywood handshake from the departing batsman.
After Ishy finished his spell of 2 for 42, it was then the turn of James Holder’s tweakers to continue chipping away at the South Wilts batting line up, as he kept Micky H in the game by picking up a couple of lbws (one of which being their destructive opener lbw for 57), along with a sharp caught-and-bowled, to record figures of 3 for 39.
A mid-pitch row between the visiting skipper and umpire followed from the bowling of multi-nicknamed Paul Hungerford, who claimed an additional scalp to end up with 2 for 30, while brother Lee returned to claim 1 for 39. Kooner-Evans managed to effect a run out from the deep, and pick up the final wicket, to improve his day, as the visitors were bowled out for 205.
Next weekend finds Pompey’s finest hitching up their wagons, for their last away jaunt of the season, to Basingstoke 3s
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