Ivybridge Cricket Club - 1st XI Reports & Scorecard
Ivybridge CC vs. Stoke Gabriel CC- Saturday 7th July 2007
Finally! After two consecutive weeks and a succession of cancelled matches due to poor weather, Ivybridge Cricket Club were finally able to continue their 2007 league campaign last Saturday with an important home match against second placed Stoke Gabriel.
The home side went into the game with a rejigged batting line-up with skipper and opening batsman Andy Johnson still out with a rib injury suffered against Babbacombe on 9th June and regulars top order batsmen Gareth Andrews (personal commitments) and Kevin Jacobs (work) also unavailable. Stoke Gabriel were also depleted having lost Australian left arm spinner Dave Pruysers as he has gone travelling.
Stoke Gabriel skipper Adam Castle called correctly and asked Ivybridge to bat first knowing the pitch conditions - which were more like early season May than July - would help the seamers.
And so it was to be. Nick Sandbrook and Castle himself both bowled tight early spells as Andy Coker and Chris Greenhouse did well to counter the moving ball. The pair gradually got going as both hit useful boundaries to up the early low scoring rate. They had made it past the fifty stand, when Castle withdrew from the attack and introduced the left arm spin of Nathan Way.
Way was returning to the Stoke side after injury and looked rusty but his slower pace caused Greenhouse an immediate problem as he offered a catch to Alex Hill at cover. Des Solomon and Coker were able to move the score along further adding 54 in 13 overs.
Coker reached a fine fifty, his first in the league of the season, and looked set for a bigger score. However, the side needed to push on and in looking to do so, he was bowled by Armstrong.
With just 14 overs remaining and a good platform set by the top order the remaining Ivybridge batsmen were able to play their shots. However, Stoke stuck to their task and bowled generally full and straight and did not allow Ivybridge too many opportunities for easy boundaries. In so doing, Ivybridge lost regular wickets with only stand-in skipper Kelvin Trent (17) and first team debutant Nick Gunn (18 not out) making double figures.
Nevertheless, the combined effort got Ivybridge to a total of 189 for 9, which seemed a par score.
Stoke Gabriel’s openers, Steve Tolley and Rob Baker were initially circumspect but had some loose deliveries to capitalise on from Ivybridge’s opening bowlers. James Bullock did manage to trap the dangerous Tolley lbw for just 7, but Baker road his luck to get the visitors chase off to a solid start.
Baker and Lanyon had taken Stoke to relative comfort of 67 for 1, when the introduction of the extra pace of Australian import Michael Anderson and the leg spin of Karl Prescott wrestled the initiative back to Ivybridge. The pair picked up four wickets in four overs, to reduce Stoke to 76 for 5 at the half way stage of their innings. They were helped by some poor Stoke calling which saw Alex Hill run out without facing a ball, Pete Boast making the key throw from the outfield.
Stoke also soon lost Doug Ansley, caught at cover by Greenhouse off Prescott, but Neil Robinson (26) and Castle (24) then dug and looked to get Stoke towards the winning line.
Prescott eventually trapped the stubborn Robinson lbw, with a ball that kept low, and stand-in skipper Trent managed to nick one through the defence of opposite number Castle, which left Stoke on 160 for 8, needing 30 to win from 4 overs with just 2 wickets in hand.
James Bullock returning to knock over Sandbrook, but Way and Armstrong batted out the final three overs without too many scares. It was the third time this season that Ivybridge have failed to secure the outright win with the opposition nine wickets down. It was though a good performance and the home side were able to gain some ground on the leaders as a result.
| IVYBRIDGE | |||
| A Coker | b Armstrong | 50 |
|
| C Greenhouse | c Hill | B Way | 19 |
| D Solomon | b Armstrong | 26 |
|
| K Prescott | b Armstrong | 6 |
|
| K Trent (c) | b Hill | 17 |
|
| S Henderson | b Hill | 4 |
|
| A Birch | c Birnie | b Sandbrook | 2 |
| N Gunn | not out | 18 |
|
| M Anderson | b Sandbrook | 9 |
|
| J Bullock | c Way | b Sandbrook | 3 |
| P Boast | not out | 2 |
|
| Extras | 33 |
||
| TOTAL | (For 9 wickets) | 189 |
| BOWLING | O |
M |
R |
W |
| N Sandbrook | 11 |
2 |
41 |
3 |
| A Castle | 9 |
4 |
24 |
0 |
| N Robinson | 5 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
| N Way | 6 |
0 |
29 |
1 |
| T Armstrong | 7 |
1 |
26 |
3 |
| A Hill | 8 |
0 |
42 |
2 |
| STOKE GABRIEL | |||
| S Tolley | lbw | b Bullock | 7 |
| R Baker | b Anderson | 42 |
|
| C Lanyon | b Anderson | 13 |
|
| R Birnie | c Trent | b Prescott | 2 |
| N Robinson | lbw | b Prescott | 26 |
| A Hill | run out (Boast) | 0 |
|
| D Ansley | c Greenhouse | b Prescott | 6 |
| A Castle | b Trent | 24 |
|
| N Sandbrook | b Bullock | 12 |
|
| N Way | not out | 1 |
|
| T Armstrong | not out | 4 |
|
| Extras | 32 |
||
| TOTAL | (For 9 wickets) | 169 |
| BOWLING | O |
M |
R |
W |
| J Bullock | 10 |
1 |
38 |
2 |
| P Boast | 8 |
1 |
28 |
0 |
| K Prescott | 13 |
2 |
41 |
3 |
| M Anderson | 8 |
2 |
25 |
2 |
| A Birch | 2 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
| K Trent | 5 |
1 |
12 |
1 |
Match Result:
Ivybridge (14) drew with Stoke (9)