Match Report - 1s win promotion at Caterham - by Matty D

HWRCC 1XI beat Caterham 1XI by 7 runs.

A season review will follow (at the end of the season), but this game proved to be decisive. Our target of 12 wins was achieved and promotion was secured, but only after confirmation of Guildford Citys draw at Shepperton. It would have been nice to secure promotion with a wicket, or a boundary, or something more dramatic than a text from the Chairman on your way to a Fish and Chip shop at 9pm in Kent. On the plus side the fish I procured was half-price at £2 on account of it being split. Saved me two bob and I was going to eat the thing even if it wasn’t split. And it was delish.

Anyway, back to the creekeet...

Caterham – lovely town. Has a Waitrose at the bottom of the hill. Always a good sign.

The ground is high up and part-funded by the famous Caterham School – Think Hogwarts without the wizard bit. Therefore they have some good facilities and the track was a belter. The best track we have played on all year – true carry and some pace if you bent your back, but also some grip if you hit the seam. Obviously I lost the toss and we were inserted. There was some rain in the air and whilst it wasn’t cold, it was slightly dank. The gazebo under which we were sat did receive a warm pattering for maybe an hour. This didn’t stop Nomaan and Alex though who attacked from the off – hitting cleanly through the line – Nomaan mostly off-side, Alex mostly on-side – but both with orthodox cricket play. They put on a round 100 in maybe 15 overs – continuing their great form of the previous few weeks.

However, 1 can bring 2. And in some cases a lot more. The ball started to grip, catches were being held, a few poor shots played and an ump with an itchy finger all left us ‘reeling’ at 167-7/ Raza made a few but others found ways to get out (as did Raza to be fair) and thoughts of 250 were some way off. MattyD and in-form Tong steadied somewhat – Davies fortunate at best but nevertheless effective for a while. His dismissal brought in Abeyratne, whose explosive hitting accelerated the score to 242 in no time with a declaration now possible off 45 overs, leaving us 50 to get them out on a flat deck and an outfield like the Oval.

Teas were pretty good – not much variety but I’ve said it before – if the bread is soft I won’t complain. And you didn’t need to ask for the cold drinks. 6 out of 10.

The sun had come out for our response. So much so in fact I decided to zinc up and I looked like the monkey out of Lion King. It seemed to do the job as I plucked an absolute beaut at gully to give the innings an early lift. Nevertheless Caterham approached their chase in the right frame – attack. Their run rate was consistently high at around 5 an over – which is probably a first for us this season. Attacking fields soon paid off, as well as runs on the board which forced agitation with some batsman. A few tight overs invariably led to a wicket in some form. Tongy – the pick of the seamers – took a great catch at point and Nomaan was successful with two run outs – one with the help of an energetic Zammy at mid wicket. With the exception of Vish – who didn’t threaten on a track that didn’t suit him – everyone looked like taking wickets. Day bowled with real verve on a batsman’s track and attacking fields. He didn’t get the rewards this week. Ali – on his return to bowling action, somehow got 4 wickets despite a glut on no-balls (don’t look at me Noman – they’re your feet). With wickets tumbling, the key one was a Kammy catch at long-on – plucking skier to remove the Caterham skip who had threatened to challenge for the full 20 points. Runs wern’t the problem, it was the losing of wickets that was going to do for them. Zammy cleaned up the final one and 20 points was ours.

MOM – Paper suggests it should be Nomaan, but he didn’t do much more than anyone else really. He was probably the worst of the bowlers aside from Vish, but still took 4 wickets. He top scored – but he Alex and Vish all played vital contributions with the willow. And Tongy put in a fine all round stint – unbeaten with bat, best bowler on day, a great catch and some outstanding standards in the field.

Special mention to young Robbie Oliver. He didn’t trouble the scorers this time around, but last time I got a duck (Frimley 1st league game) I followed it up with 135 the week after. Debut out the way – tick that box...plenty more opportunities to come.

In the field this had been a good effort – I think we forget how good we actually are at times. Caterham was a batting paradise, especially with the sun out. Some of our bowling was full of skill and poise and the catching this week was top drawer when it needed to be. Caterham’s fielding in contrast was lacklustre (no disrespect intended). 15 games and 12 wins is a great return and if we win the final two we have a real chance of going up as Champions – but we are now officially a Surrey Championship team – I will dine out on that for a while.

Go Wick.