Batting brain fade leads to gut wrenching loss in season defining encounter

Match played - Saturday, 22 October 2022

MAGS – 232/9 in 50 overs

King’s College – 219 all out in 49.3 overs

At 66 for 1 in the 10^th over, King’s were cruising when Karl Wallace mistimed a full ball and was trapped in front. When his opening partner James Nelson was run-out going for a non-existent single, King’s were still looking in full control of the run chase as the score had reached 90 for 2 in the 17^th over. The openers, assisted by wayward bowling, got off to the easiest of starts and were threatening to make a mockery of the stiff target. From an imposing 93/2, King’s added a mere 42 runs the loss of Morgan Tapper, Nick Tapper and Josh Olliver, and the match had turned.

The hosts who were subdued and mesmerised by the opening salvo suddenly found their voices and knew that they were now in control and the King’s fragile lower-middle order wasn’t expected to provide any resistance. At 133/5, King’s were 99 runs adrift which was a tall order for the rest of the line-up which included three players making their debut. Liam Denny, Charles Knight, Malcolm Barrow and Samar Singh, all showed some ability but the asking rate kept on climbing. Last man in, Jack Priddy, was forced to take big risks and holed out to long-off to hand the hosts a well-deserved victory.

A silver lining in the King’s run chase was provided by Year 9 student, Malcolm Barrow. His first ball, on debut, was nonchalantly dispatched over the bowler’s head for a jaw-dropping six runs. He displayed class, courage, nerves of steel and sent a warning to the rest of the competition that he is going to be a tough customer, in the next few years of schoolboy cricket. Justin Nori and Samar Singh also showed promising skill as lower order batters with the ability to safely guide their team to victory if the target was manageable. 

 When Nick Tapper called correctly at the 10 am toss, he chose to bowl, after close inspection of the wicket and the ensuing discussion with the coach and senior players. Runs flowed, via the bat, wides and byes and MAGS were heading towards a large total but King’s managed to reel them in with wickets falling at crucial junctures. The skipper, Tapper was the stand-out pace bowler whilst Samar Singh, the leg spinner made a noteworthy contribution of 9 overs on the trot for his 3 wickets, a memorable performance. The inexperienced Freddie Brewis found wicket keeping an absolute challenge at this level but showed that he is willing to learn and will get better as more opportunities come his way. No one had an error free day, including the novice keeper, but his three catches went a long way to restrict the hosts to a sub-250 target and he would have cherished his debut even more if the result did not go the other way.

 Debutants: Charles Knight, Malcolm Barrow, Freddie Brewis

Liam Denny tries on his baggy in the presence of Morgan Tapper, Freddie Brewis and Justin Nori.

 King’s lose by 13 runs.