Pinkneys Green vs Frimley Green Cricket Club - Sunday 19th May 2019, 13:00

At the third time of trying (thanks to the weather intervening for the last two years) the "Battle Of The Greens" match between FGCC and Pinkneys Green finally took place. And it was certainly worth the wait... On a day when the weather again looked like it might interfere with the cricket FGCC arrived to blue skies and a decent track, however when Cap'n Jim lost the toss and the Pinkneys Green skip elected unsurprisingly to bat first at least the FGCC captain took comfort in the knowledge that 9 of the team who'd participated in last week's win over Brookwood were again in the side, with Anam coming in for Rich who was otherwise engaged at Legoland (although he did come to watch afterwards - fair play Mr. Loosley). However for 20 overs the home team's call looked to be the perfect one, as openers Heyes and the talented left-handed Adres both played some impressive strokes despite decent opening spells from Sheshi and Dean. The run rate was creeping over 5 until Jim decided to call on wise old head Tim to try and bring some good old-fashioned line and length into play. This he did admirably, with the only blot on his copybook the lack of anything in the wickets column which would have done justice to a tremendous spell. Bowling from the other end and seeing the pitch was favouring accuracy over raw pace Anam changed to spin, and in the over after drinks (by which PGCC had reached 81-0 off 20) he trapped Heyes LBW for 26 to finally break a fine PGCC opening stand. Once Anam and Tim had bowled out Jim turned to himself to make an impact, and buoyed by his 2-in-2 at the end of the last game was on a hat-trick ball first up, which nearly accounted for PGCC no.3 Smith. The skip didn't have to wait long for this next scalp though, as the very next ball Smith misread an off-break which cleaned him up. On a roll, Jim then took Lyall out in the next over with a similar delivery, whilst at the other end Pranay (in only his second game) made an instant impact thanks to a wonderful catch by Suresh, the ball travelling like a rocket before the vice-captain snagged it as if nothing had happened. With Jim chipping in with a 3rd wicket (again thanks to a Suresh catch, this time a one-handed juggle which he snared on the second attempt), and Pranay finally ending Andres' fine innings of 70, FGCC were right back in the match, and eventually restricted Pinkneys Green to 171-7 off their 40 overs. In reply, and despite Mark lasting 3 balls, Jones Snr and Jnr put on a solid 2nd wicket partnership, Adam especially looking in good nick before steering one into the hands of Smith at short cover. With some tricky bowling from Heyes (8-3-16-2) and Saleem (8-1-13-0) batting seemed hard going in the early stages, although as ever Tim judged his innings well, coming forward to defend the good balls and playing the bad ones well, a few runs cleverly collected through an absent slip cordon. When Tim finally fell 5 short of what would have been a well-deserved 50, FGCC were 93-5 with 15 overs left to chase down their target. Cue Dean - wound up by the oppo's umpire not giving him a wicket for what seemed a plumb LBW shout during Pinkneys Green's innings - who decided to channel his frustration with no shortage of belligerence. In a 63 run partnership for the 6th wicket Dean smashed 47 of them, including an almighty 6 and some 4s crunched all over the shop. With FGCC needing at one point 62 off their last 10 overs Dean's innings was the real difference - he ended on 60*, his first half-century for the club, made off only 37 balls (earning him 3rd place on the all-time Fastest Fifties honours board), and with Anam hitting the winning 4 over slip and down to the Third Man boundary what seemed like a tight run-chase was accomplished with more than 3 overs to spare. A great win for FGCC, and the second one in as many weeks - back-to back victories don't happen often, but when they do it tastes all the more sweet (especially when Deano's buying a jug)...