OCCC 215 for 2 (Scriven 100, Bedford 86*) beat Eton Rambers 214 (Vanderpar 97, Waters 2-45) by eight wickets
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The OCCC eased into the semi-finals of the Cricketer Cup thanks to an excellent display in the field and charismatic batting from Jack Scriven and Lewis Bedford. We now meet Bedfordians on Jubilee on July 29.
On one of the hottest days of a sweltering summer we lost the toss and fielded. But an excellent pitch had a little more grass than usual – to try to give some protection in the heat – and so played true throughout rather than crumble as the game progressed which so many tracks have done this year. With a lightning fast outfield, a score of 280 seemed around par.
Will Rollings, lively in his first spell, struck in his first over, and Sam Dickson, introduced as an early first change, did the same to leave Eton 15 for 2. When McDonagh nicked the impressive Ed Tristem to Callum Kent, Eton were 41 for 3 and wobbling.
Tristem is something of an unpredictable quantity when handed the ball. Some days he looks all at sorts and hobbles and grimaces around like a pensioner. On others, when his tail is up, he is genuinely fast and all but unplayable. Today was one such day. His return of 1 for 30 off eight did not show how many times he beat the bat or was edged into space.
The early wickets meant Eton were reliant on Vanderpar, and he started confidently with some sublime drives off Nathan Thorpe. But thereafter he played a curate’s egg of an innings, at times looking as if batting was easy and at others poking at the seamers and skewing the spinners.
The innings really came off the rails with two run-outs in five balls, both resulting from poor calling. Scriven scored a direct hit to remove Ginoda and then a sharp return from Bedford accounted for O’Brien with both batsmen marooned mid pitch. From 80 for 3 Eton slipped to 81 for 5.
Vanderpar and Halstead slowly and patiently rebuilt in a stand of 107 off 16 overs. The momentum was swinging away from the OCs as 42 came off 17 deliveries after the second drinks break; Vanderpar suddenly woke up and showed why he is so feared as he slammed 28 off seven balls but with the eighth, and out of nowhere, Matt Crump bowled him for 97. Two overs later Halstead drove Scriven to Tristem in the deep and the innings never recovered. The last five wickets produced only 26 runs in seven overs. All seven bowlers used took a wicket with only Seren Waters picking up two. At the end of a cricket week where targets of 280-300 had proved chaseable, 215 was always well within reach as long as we did not lose early wickets.
By his own admission, Scriven’s form with the bat this summer has been disappointing and as runs proved elusive he almost tried too hard rather than play his natural game. This hundred was him back to his imposing best. After a cautious maiden, his next six balls produced two driven sixes and a four, and then having scattered the field to all parts with his belligerent hitting, he milked the gaps for easy ones and twos. On his way to fifty he smote three sixes and five fours. From 50 to 70 he only hit one four but almost every shot had real power in it.
Waters was content to play second fiddle and looked untroubled until given out caught behind for 10 off a ball he seemed to miss – his habit of taking two steps towards the pavilion after playing and missing may have persuaded the umpire he was walking. Rather than check our progress at 62 for 1, that brought to the crease the in-form Bedford who upped the tempo, mixing placement for ones and twos with some exquisite drives.
Scriven reached his deserved hundred off 93 balls in 134 minutes before skying the next delivery back to the bowler, but by then the game was all but over. Alan Cope, who had shown his confidence by preparing for his innings by lounging romantically in the shade with his girlfriend, then produced an entertaining cameo as Vanderpar tried to knock his head off and Cope, eschewing a helmet, took him on in his OC cap. It was the last hurrah and the winnings runs soon followed – Bedford’s unbeaten 86 taking an hour and coming off 62 balls – as we reached the target with ten overs to spare.
The day was a credit to a young side whose approach in the field never flagged despite the trying conditions. It is also worth mentioning the sizeable contingent who took root in the shade of the trees, the superb catering provided by the School, yet another excellent track produced by Sean and his team, and the patient scoring of Heather.
So we all come back in a fortnight for what will be a tough semi-final. Tristem has offered to fly back from holiday Portugal for the match if Eds Copleston buys him a ticket. In a week that saw Will Howard fly Matt Foster to Prague for taking a five-for, that seems a small price for the captain to pay.
