... but Ben McPherson's The Dream Team certainly made us work for it.
The Tigers line-up v Ben McPherson's Dream Team
(Back-row l-r) Rob Webb, Robbie Nicholson, Iain Nicholson (capt), James Grist-Perkins, Liam Dunkley, Des Gayle
(Front row l-r) Sam Kellie, Baz Floyd, Sam Parsons, Tom Kellie, Tim Lowe
The Dream Team
(Back row l-r) Will Harper, Chris Richards, T. Guyatt, A.O'Keefe, Chris Ellis, A.Calvert, J.Tucker
(Front row l-r) C.Judge, Satish, Ben McPherson (capt)
August Bank Holiday weekend Sunday and the Ambush assembled for the last time of the 2012 season against our mates (and fellow Tigers) Ben McPherson, Chris Ellis and their Dream Team.
Once again, beautiful Combe Cricket Club played host to the Tigers but it was a new look Ambush that took to the field against The Dreamers. As several young Tigers had stepped forward for this game, the Ambush has never looked so youthful ... well, until you spot Baz Floyd and Iain Nicholson amongst them at least.
And talking of Iain Nicholson, this was also a landmark match as Iain became only the third captain of the Ambush since we founded the SpecialEffect Tigers in 2009.
With a few of their players lost in West Oxfordshire, there was no toss for this 20/20 game. The Dreamers were put into bat in the hope that the missing team members would find their way to Combe before the end of the innings.
Ben McPherson and Chris Ellis opened the batting for The Dreamers whilst Tigers' skipper Nicholson handed James Grist-Perkins and Sam Parsons the new ball. The first four overs resulted in no wickets but not many runs either.
Ben McPherson (9) struggles to get the ball away as Grist-Perkins, Nicholson and Webb look on
First blood was drawn by Tigers debutant Liam Dunkley. A shortish delivery to Ben McPherson who lunged forward in his search of the big hit. He didn't fnd it. Robbie Nicholson happily whipped off his bails to send the opener walking for 9.
Chris Richards joined Chris Ellis at the crease and together they enjoyed some success as the Tigers bowlers came and went. The Tigers thought they'd picked up Ellis caught behind at one point. But in something reminiscent of the legendary non-walker, WG Grace, Ellis protested he had not touched the ball. The home side eventually gave the okay for umpire Will Harper to lower his finger and 'Gracie' Ellis earned a reprieve ... we know Chris is an honest bloke, after all.
Dreamers top scorer Chris Richards on his way to 25
Ellis did fall a few balls later as another debutant Tiger, Sam Kellie, claimed him as his first victim. Ellis bowled for 17 to be replaced by O'Keefe.
Chris Richards meanwhile was moving along very respectably, pushing singles and two's with regularity. But at the other end, despite some spectacular dropped catches including one from bucket-hands Floyd in the slips, the Dreamers middle order was being shredded by Sam Kellie. O'Keefe stumped by Nicholson for a duck and Calvert caught and bowled by our Sam for an accompanying quacker.
Guyatt joined Richards at the crease and once again offered up some nice catching opportunities for the Tigers. Despite the Tigers having a really good season in the field, those catches just weren't sticking and with the help of the only 6 of the innings Guyatt moved on to 17.
Sam Kellie's brother Tom (yes, another new Tiger) removed the stubborn Chris Richards from the crease, bowling the Dreamers wicket keeper for a valuable 25. Guyatt was next to go, again bowled by Tom Kellie, leaving Tucker and Harper to see out the 20 overs. The two tail-enders added 9 and 8 respectively seeing the Dreamers through to 98-6 off their 20 overs. That's a target of 4.90 runs an over for the Tigers.
Tigers debutant Liam Dunkley opens his account with 3-0-21-1
Robbie Nicholson and Sam Kellie opened the batting for the Tigers whilst Satish and Harper offered the opening bowling assault for the opposition. Nicholson, with his usual mixture of flamboyance and brutality decided to reduce the run rate target as quickly as possible as crashed a four and five sixes on his way to an unbeaten 39.
Fellow opener Sam Kellie adopted a more conservative approach as he hit a couple of fours on his way to an unbeaten 35. Both openers left the crease on the 'retire at 35, come back later if needed' rule.
Tigers' Des Gayle is bowled by O'Keefe for a quacker
At this point, the Tigers were looking comfortable but some excellent bowling and fielding by the Dreamers would provide some spills and thrills before the game was over.
Tigers debutant, Des Gayle, left the crease for a duck as O'Keefe left his broken stumps swinging in the breeze. And some sharp fielding and overly relaxed jogging between the stumps by Rob Webb saw the Tiger run out from the boundary without troubling the scorer.
Charlbury opener, Tim Lowe, added a healthy 13 before being picked up by an excellent Calvert catch off the bowling of McPherson but the Tigers middle order continued to capitulate.
Baz Floyd fell victim to an Ellis/Richards combination as he failed to meet the pitch of a good length ball to be caught behind off his glove for a duck. And young Liam Dunkley joined him back at the pavilion as Guyatt took his middle and off stump. The Tigers batting was going quackers as the ducks mounted up. Could the Dreamers actually win this game after all.
Another Tigers duck as Tom Kellie fell victim to another smart take by keeper Richards. This time off the bowling of Satish. And Sam Parsons added just a single before Richards snapped him up off the bowling of Harper. With the wickets tumbling but the run target of 98 tantalisingly within sight of the Tigers, skipper Iain Nicholson joined James Grist-Perkins at the crease to try and see the home side over the finishing line.
Again, the Dreamers wouldn't make it easy. Young Grist-Perkins was run out for three by another smart piece of fielding with just two needed for victory.
And as the returning Robbie Nicholson joined dad back at the crease, Nicholson senior picked out the winning runs through mid-on. Phew!
A competitive game played in fantastic spirit by a great bunch of cricketers. And, a winning end to the season as the Ambush keeps up our run of victories.
Thanks very much to everyone who turned out for the Tigers against The Dream Team and big thanks too to our opposition for helping to make it a really enjoyable afternoon of cricket.
Here's the scorecards ...
10/10 RESULT
The afternoon didn't end with the 20/20 result as both sides took to the field again for a 10/10 thrash.
The scores weren't recorded in the Tigers scorebook, so I'll have to wait for Ben to get them to me before I put them up on the blog.
However, I can report that the Dreamers won the 10/10 by 12 runs after hitting 64.
The Tigers simply ran out of overs and wickets as they tried to chase down a 6.4 runs an over target without big-hitting Robbie Nicholson to give us a run-boost.
Ben, if you can get me the scorecards mate, I shall get the famous Dreamers victory up on the blog.
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