Club V President's XI

HEAVY rain just at the scheduled start turned the President's Day match at Belstone on Sunday from a leisurely 40-over afternoon game into a 20-over all-action blast which had the sizeable crowd on the edge of their seats towards the end.

Club President Peter Hammond had assembled an eclectic mix of players, including the skippers of Lewdown and Bridestowe Cricket Clubs — but it was veteran Cleave Collins and 13-year-old all-rounder Leon Horn who opened their attack.

Matt Dennis hit his first ball, the fourth of the innings, for six which set the tone for the whole game as a total of 16 sixes disappeared out of Rew Meadow in all four quadrants of the ground.

Dennis raced to his second 50 of the season in just 26 minutes, with three more big sixes and three boundaries before he retired, by which time Belstone were travelling at nine an over.

The other opener, Tom Pearce, hit two sixes of his own before being caught by Collins off Harvey for 26 — this first wicket falling with 97 on the board.

Skipper Richard Drake and Nazir Khan continued the strokeplay before Drake (22) was out to a superb one-handed catch by Mark Butler running back from square leg off the first ball of Henry Holmes's spell. Holmes took two more quick wickets to finish with the best figures of three for 15 from three overs; on the other hand, with the ball following him around in the outfield, he did manage to drop six very hard chances.

Khan was out for 34 to another good catch in the deep by Collins not long before the innings ended on 169 for six — the fourth highest 20-over score in the club's history which was rattled up in just 70 minutes.

The President's reply started relatively sedately at five an over for the first five but then took off spectacularly as Harry Geering and Horn added 69. Horn's innings included a perfectly executed Dilscoop over the keeper's head to the boundary but he was clean bowled by Harry Bushin for 20 attempting a similar stroke.

By now Geering was hitting huge sixes and with skipper Daryl Chapman also clearing the boundary with three of his own, the President's XI began to bear down on the runs required at a rate of knots, 20 coming off an over from Andy King and 21 from the first five balls of Khan's third over.

Crucially, however, Geering swung and missed the last ball of the over to be clean bowled for 78, scored in a hectic 51 minutes with 3 fours and 7 sixes. This left the President's men needing 39 to win off 18 balls and then 19 off the last over — Chapman continued the charge to finish on 46 not out but the target proved just too much and they fell eight runs short — an exact reversal of last year's result.

Since the fixture began in 1993 honours now stand at ten wins for the club and eight for the President's XI, with two ties and a draw.