Penn Street vs Old Manorians

Penn Street 185-10 (P. Jupp 61; Khalid 3-28) beat Old Manorians 139-10 (T. Butt 17; J. Mendy 4-16) by 46 runs

Success breeds success, and PSCC’s match winning heroes from Twyford & Ruscombe are going to Wembley, qué sera sera, to meet our good friends Old Manorians.

On a slow, uneven pitch, Penn Street batted first. Peter Jupp tried to continue where he left off the previous Sunday, but the pitch was too slow and the bowling too tight for sustained aggression. Chris Fletcher and Matt Bannister fell relatively cheaply, but Pete and Rob Sutherland put on 85 for the third wicket before Rob fell plumb lbw to one wild swish too many. Oli Andrews was less fortunate, reckoning he got an inside edge, but umpire Tyler Armiger, the fastest finger in the west (with the possible exception of James Sempill), disagreed.

Pete finally fell for an excellent 61, leaving us still a fair way short of a convincing total. However, there was more to come. Richard Spooner hooked and swept his way to a convincing 14, all the bowlers scored some runs but star man of the lower order was George Simon, whose 17 not out included two exquisite cover drives and a six over long on. He may have lost his number 11 slot for good.

185 all out looked a reasonable total on a tricky pitch, but it depended on how we bowled. Jack Mendy soon settled this. He came charging in with real aggression and got life out of the pitch that had never seemed possible when Old Manorians had been bowling. A sharp bouncer dismissed one of the openers, and from then on Old Manorians were on the back foot. Two further wickets were simply too quick for the batsmen. Tyler had been accurate but unlucky opening from the other end, but if the batsmen were expecting a respite when he came off, they were mistaken. Oli Andrews was straight onto the money and the ball which took the wicket of the dangerous J Patel was simply unplayable.

By now, confidence was surging through the side. Matt Bannister took a tremendous steepling catch off Oli’s bowling. Richard Spooner a brilliant reflex catch off Fletch. Nick Loftus was naggingly accurate as ever, whilst George Simon came on and continued his wicket-taking form from Cranbourne.

Eventually, after a dogged and frustrating last wicket partnership, Nick Loftus prised the last Old Manorian out, and Penn Street ran out victors for the second week in a row, by 46 runs.

Man of the Match : This really was a great team effort. Pete Jupp’s runs gave us the platform, but we needed the lower order’s contribution to give us a target to bowl at. George Simon’s 17 not out was very special. Jack’s bowling ripped out the top order, but he was well supported by all the other bowlers and by some exceptional catches and fielding. So the deserved Man of the Match is the whole team.