Neyland Match Report
Herbrandston vs Neyland. League, Saturday 29th May 2010. Umpires: Les Hastings & John Williams.Heavy overnight rain was never going to be the best start for an away trip to Herbrandston. Light drizzle persisted for much of the morning but the forecast gave some hope. Neyland seconds called their home fixture off early, but the first team travelled in hope to Herbrandston, where they found a wicket which had been covered but with some very wet patches. At the far end the wicket was very soft over a large area on and outside the right handers off stump, while at the other end there were only patches where the water had beaten the covers.
The start was delayed slightly, although this made little difference to the wicket as the moisture in the aim meant there was little chance of the pitch drying significantly. Neyland asked confident tosser Paul Miller to call correctly and put the home side in. He didn't. Neyland were duly invited to bat and the openers looked less than pleased.
Four balls later and the Herbie side were celebrating the first breakthrough as the in form Paul Murray headed back to the changing rooms having been adjudged lbw to Paul Hood. Kristan Bennett formed the second part of what must be the fastest opening pairing in the first or any other division, and he also looked sharp. Sean Hannon got off the mark when an edge flew over the slips and into the hedge after one bounce. Andrew Miller and Sean Hannon then dug in against a succession of good balls interspersed with regular bouncers from both ends. It was clear that this was not going to be an eazy afternoon's batting, and the nature of the challenge was clear when Bennett got one to jag back sharply and lift a little into Miller's rib cage. The score crept slowly to 10 runs off 8 overs when Hood found the edge of Miller's bat. As the batsmen ran Hannon advised his partner 'don't worry, that's safe' only for Nathan Banner to take an excellent catch. The following over new batsman Koomen got off the mark with a 2, only to be bowled by a good fast yorker the following ball, and Neyland were in trouble at 14 for 3.
Gregg Miller then joined Hannon and looked in good touch, albeit a few well struck shots were well stopped while others which pierced the infield slowed rapidly in the long damp grass. A partnership of 14, which would probably have ben 24 on any other day, was brought to a halt when Hannon was caught and bowled by Hood for a patient 13 runs. And by the end of the following over Neyland's innings was in complete disarray as Gregg Miller gloved one from Bennett through to keeper Aaron Bowles, and Bennett then bowled Paul Miller to leave Neyland 24 for 6 in only the 14th over.
Henry Durrant and Patrick Bellerby then looked to bring some stability back to the innings. Four consecutive maidens followed as the pair got to grips with the threat from Bennett and Hood, and Hood was then replaced by Nathan Banner, albeit he started with two maidens too. The real relief came when Bennett also ended his opening spell after ten overs, and was replaced by S. Williams. Williams' first over went for 9 as a full toss was dispatched by Bellerby and three wides were also bowled. The next few overs were better from a Herbrandston perspective, but Neyland were also content to progress slowly at a run an over and to use up the overs.
However in the 27th over Banner removed Durrant for a useful 7 runs, and Neyland were once again teetering on the bring at 40 for 7 after 27 overs. Patrick Hannon then joined Bellerby, and a lose over Williams went for 10 runs, as Bellerby struck two boundaries.
At this point Hood and Bennett returned for their final spells, albeit Herbrandston were frustrated to find that with the reduction in the overs to 41, each bowler's allowance had also been reduced to 11, giving Hood 2 more overs and Kristan Bennett only 1. The Neyland batsmen survived these brief spells, and with Herbrandston having to rest their young bowlers they were forced to turn to bowlers 5 and 6! With the score on 60 with 6 overs remaining the watching Neyland side sensed this was an opportunity to revive the inning, and perhaps post a total close to 100 which would look quite reasonable. Bellerby was now going well, and smashed Jonty Bennett's first ball for another boundary, but Neyland's optimism turned to dismay as Bellerby was bowled on the fourth ball of the over, and Phil Davies was run out in the following over as Patrick Hannon looked for a quick single. Davies' lack of a pair of cricket spikes has been commented upon many times over the years and it again proved costly as he managed to fall over not once but twice before getting to the other end, covered in dirt, and he was run out by a direct hit without scoring.
On the first ball of the following over Patrick Hannon was bowled by Jonty Bennett for 7, bringing the inings to a premature close in the 38th over, with only 66 runs on the board, and Herbrandston left the field justifiably pleased with their efforts, having bowled and fielded extremely well.
Despite the low score, Neyland took to the field after tea with optimism, knowing that the Herbrandston batting line-up looked fragile, and knowing that the wicket would not be easy. With the two main rungatherers of recent weeks, Nathan Banner and Jonty Bennett, opening the batting for Herbie, and with such a modest total to defend, it was going to be crucial to make an early breakthrough. And Henry Durrant and Patrick Hannon duly obliged as Durrant caught and bowled Banner in the first over for 0, and Bennett also lofted one in the second over, and was duly caught by Gregg Miller in the covers. Game on!
Leigh Marchant and Gary Davies then went about repairing the damage, patiently defending, and slowly advancing the score. Davies played one nice cut to backward point for four in the 7th over, and it appeared that the outfield had speeded up a little. In the 12th over a slower ball from Hannon was deposited over the hedge at long on by Marchant. At the end of the over Herbrandston had reached 24 for 2, needing only a further 43 runs to win. However the next over turned the game as Marchant was caught by Patrick Hannon off Durrant for 13. Incoming number 5 batsman Paul Hood then inside edged a four, before hitting the next ball, a full toss, to Patrick Bellerby at mid on. Suddenly Herbie were looking shaky at 28 for 4.
Nicholas Koomen then took over from Hannon at the other end, and after starting with a wide bowled 6 dot balls. Over to Durrant, who was now charging in and completed a wicket maiden, clean bowling Herbie captain Kristan Bennett to pick up his fourth wicket of the day and reduce Herbie to 29 for 5. The following over Alan McClellan was adjudged lbw, maintaining Koomen's impressive strike rate with the ball in recent weeks. 30 for 6 and Neyland were feeling very confident of closing the game out.
R Davies joined father Gary at the crease, and they dug in, with Gary doing his best to nudge Herbrandston closer to the target, with a number of singles to fine leg. The pair stayed together for 10 overs, taking the total from 30 for 6 to 40 for 6. Durrant ended his excellent spell with 4 for 17 from his 11 overs, and Gary Lloyd replaced him. Finally in the 26th over Neyland struck again, as R Davies lofted one into the leg side off Koomen and Patrick Hannon came in to take a good low catch [a catch that became 'awesome' in the bar after the match]. S John took a swing and was bowled the following ball, leaving Koomen on a hat-trick for the second week in a row, though he was unable to get the third this time! However it mattered little as Lloyd backed him up with a wicket in the following over, bowling S Williams for one.
Number 4 batsman Davies was now in danger of being stranded. He now played a couple of shots without ever really threatening, and was subsequently adjudged lbw to be the last man out, lbw, giving Lloyd his second wicket and wrapping up a fairly nervy win for Neyland.
Koomen finished with another fine set of figures with 3 for 9 from 8 overs, and Lloyd finished with 2 wickets for 1 run off 3.3 overs, to complete a day dominated by the bowlers of both sides, but where Patrick Bellerby's hard fought 22 probably made the difference.
The 27 points gained saw Neyland climb to 4th spot in the table.
