Pacific took the opportunity to quickly gain revenge for the previous day’s defeat on a nice if small ground just outside Sherborne. The game started in sunny weather but it clouded over and there was some drizzle on a muggy energy sapping day. Skip Tempany elected to bat on a ground with a very quick sloping outfield and an opposition with only eight players (we only had ten). The oppo randomly chose two batsmen to bat twice and we lent them two players when they were fielding.
Lay got the scoreboard moving whilst Bastin played himself in and tested his sore ankle (see previous day). Bastin gradually found his touch and was soon smashing fours through midwicket and cover. He fell hooking to about the only ball that bounced a bit more than expected in the whole innings. Lay departed to a one-handed catch at cover.
Webley and Rademaker then increased the tempo against the oppo’s aging spinners. Webbo hit some straight sixes and made a solid fifty but it was Rademaker who led the way in the partnership. Rademaker survived a couple of missed catches by sub fielders Vinod and Gleadow – albeit both very tough chances. The skip’s arrival saw carnage done to the bowling figures and the skip pass a thousand runs for the club. Boundaries are never big enough for the skip and here many a ball was lost and fielders had to jump many a fence to fetch balls. The declaration was delayed whilst Rademaker navigated the nervous nineties on his way to his first hundred for the club.
The tea was excellent.
Vinod provided a hostile start making the batsmen ducking his bouncers. In contrast Gleadow was slower than a snail going up the hill. Both were expensive but Gleadow eventually got going and got two wickets but dropped one of his own bowling. The oppo kept themselves in the game until Shamsuddin produced two ‘Warney balls’ to befuddle their middle order. Tempany’s wicket was a bouncer the batsman did well to reach to knick behind. That catch meant Bastin equalled the record for catches in a season (in June!). Hill and Korgaonkar bowled really well in face of some determined hitting to wrap up the game.
