Walsall Health beat Bharat Parivar by 6 wkts.

The hottest day of the year so far, saw the first visit of Bharat Parivar CC to Rushall.  After heavy rolling duties were carried out, ( to the advantage of the batsmen as usual) and Dan Armstrong and Ian Chuck had finished their 3 hour net, the game began. Tom Davies opened up with the new cherry, only to realise that our opposition had decided to play T20 style, the 2nd ball of the match, crashing into the offside fence for six. It was Dan Armstrong on travelator duty this week, who got the breakthrough, with a low shooter. Tom Davies joined the party from the other end, courtesy of a sharp catch by Rob Hewlitt.

With two quick wkts falling, Parivar continued with their high risk tactics. Captain Hewlitt moved Chris Hall to the long off boundary, sensing a big shot was on the way. Next ball, the No4 batsman payed no attention to the field adjustment, smacking a Nathan Martin fizzer straight down Chally’s throat, to the relief of the crowd, who at one point, feared the ball was coming their way. It was good to see Nath back for his 1st game of the season, bowling at a good pace, and unlucky not to pick up a couple more.

With Parivar losing their top order, the runs started to dry up, but it was Chris Hall, who suffered more rotten luck from his all time favourite end, the Travelator. A quiet word from Gort, mid over…get one to nip away, and we are in business. This proved wise counsel, as next ball, Chally carried out the plan to perfection. Parivar’s batsman had a wild swing, missed it by miles, and was halfway to Pelsall common, when Gort whipped off the bails. Sadly, the square leg umpire was either grabbing forty winks, watching Shakoor Rana’s best bits on youtube, or simply thought a batsmans crease was the length of Hadrian’s Wall. Needless to say, the bowler was not amused.

Despite all this controversy, the Elf continued to turn the screw. With wkts from the ever reliable Ian Chuck, and JP. Followed by Dan Armstrong, fresh from a still irate Chally, yelling at him, (Sorry Dan)  who came back on, to wrap up the tail, including a batsman who had his potty training interrupted, to be the Jack, of 9,10 Jack.  Serious village. Parivar, who early on, looked set for a big score, were reduced to 156 all out. A good effort in the field to peg them back.

After tea, the Elf fancied chasing this total down. Things were looking good after a swift start from Ian Chuck. However, on 20, Chuck had a Haley’s Comet moment. Missing a straight one. Following a 10 minute rant to his girlfriend about getting out, he swiftly went out to umpire and trigger Gort, who had been busy ship steadying. With Alex Nunns getting out to a ball that trickled back onto his stumps (unlucky) followed by a bout of batting glove kicking, the result was in the balance at 70-3. However, this side is made of strong stuff, and doesn’t roll over easily. So it was Captain Rob Hewlitt and experienced campaigner Richard Fell, who calmly put together the match winning stand. Steady, no panic, the best partnership of the match, which caused Parivar’s Junior player to run off the pitch and do a fine impersonation of Gazza at Italia 90. Or maybe he just needed his nappy changing again.

The final Chapter of the match, saw Nathan Reeves enter the game, after the departure of Richard Fell for 25. Nath doesn’t believe in having a look at the first couple, and simply blasted a quickfire 10 off 5 balls, to the delight of the supporters. Rob Hewlitt, rock solid at the other end, with a Captain’s knock of 57 not out, knew the job was done. A good win in the end, against a side that were potentially dangerous opponents had they been allowed to get into the game…..PS…Three wins on the bounce.

 

Final analysis…this report was written a week late, it turns out that Bharat Parivar hit 275 to tie a high scoring game the following week against a strong Sportsman CC side, which included the destructive Kris Ali and Vijay Chandramani. So maybe this was a pretty decent performance from the Elf lads.

Samaritans update….Chris Hall, Ian Chuck and Alex Nunns could all be seen glued to their phones in a darkened corner of the changing room after the game. Too close to call who spat their dummy out the furthest today, but it was roughly the same distance that Alex Nunns kicked his glove after getting out.

Tea update….Victoria Sponge from Aldridge is sorely missed. A good supply of Farleys Rusks for the Pharivar Number 11 though.

Village moment of the day….Dan Dunn, seen strolling round the boundary, with his 3rd bottle of Becks, despite his History exam being less than 24 hours away. Too which Greg Philpott commented, lets hope question B is all about Prohibition…..Brilliant.

Written by Chris Hall

 

 

 

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