Pinkneys Green through to regional Final!

After having watched many international and local cricket matches that have ended in nail biting finishes, I never thought that such a game would materialise at Pinkneys Green. The scene was set for a scintillating showdown between two sides that had beaten their previous opponents in quite comfortable fashion. This knockout game was even more interesting as it was the Berkshire&Surrey regional semi-finals of the village cup where the winner would book themselves a place in the regional finals and would have a great chance of reaching the national level games.

Pinkneys Green fielded a team of experienced players with a good mix of up and coming colts players whilst their opponents Purley CC were brimming with some well-seasoned campaigners. The toss was won by the Purley CC captain who chose to bat first on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. The Pinkneys fielders huddled around in their usual haphazard manner before the start of the game and were given clear instructions by their in form Captain Suprej Venkat. The task was simple, restrict the Purley batsmen for a score of around 200. Whilst the Pinkneys Green opening bowlers Sal Withana and Jake Stokes were marking their run ups, the two opening batsmen from Purley CC, P. Allen and P. Woodward, walked into what seemed like a decent wicket without much terrors. Sal Withana opened the bowling and finished his first over giving away a couple of runs. Pinkneys had to rely on young Jake Stokes to open the bowling from the other end as they were missing their open bowler Jags Dhillon who turned up fashionably late as usual and was allowed to bowl only after the first couple of overs were bowled.

Jake stood up to the challenge and managed to bowl the Purley opening batsman P. Allen for just 5 runs in his first over itself. This breakthrough brought about another when Sal Withana after bowling a few out swingers managed to swing one in sharply and caught the batsman in two minds who ended up skying one to ‘super’ Chris Heyes who dived forward from mid-off to take a magical catch.
Next to go was C. Rockly who was caught by the Pinkneys specialist wicket keeper Isuru Dassanayake off the bowling of Sal Withana who bowled an immaculate out swinger after changing ends. Then a mini middle order partnership between P. Reber and P. Rockley saw Purley reach their 100 in the 25th over. Jags Dhillon who was bowling from the Robin Hood end managed to bowl a peach of a delivery to P. Reber who edged one to Isuru who dived towards his right and took a spectacular diving catch. Before Purley could lift their heads, a fatal run out through a superb bullet like throw from the deep by Mihiru Perera saw the demise of P. Rockley. Then came Jags Dhillon who bowled another slinger that saw A. Clarke hitting one to ‘Super’ Chris Heyes who took another diving catch to dismiss the batsman for 6 runs. Purley then had some great rear guard action where G. Wheeler managed to hold the innings with a great half century and was ably supported by Dethridge and Chatwin who scored 18 and 29 respectively. In their allotted 40 overs, Perley managed to score 206 runs losing 7 wickets.

After indulging themselves in the scrumptious tea provided by Cath, the Pinkneys opening batsmen Suprej Venkat and Amit Talhan walked into the wicket with the hope of giving their team the best possible start. Suprej rode on his purple patch of form and played some wonderful strokes all around the park with boundaries flowing from his bat. After scoring a couple of elegant boundaries Amit Talhan played an expansive on drive which was caught by Mathun off the bowling of Cox for 14. Suprej was scoring in his usual manner when Mihiru Perera joined him in the middle. Mihiru played some elegant strokes and was rotating the strike quite nicely when he tried to drive Allen and was bowled by a delivery that pitched and straightened. Suprej then upped another gear and scored 4 boundaries off one over by P.Allen but tried to slog sweep the final delivery over long on and was bowled. Suprej made 46 in 18 deliveries and deserved a half century or even more. Then came Jags Dhillon who had to use a by-runner due to an injury sustained during fielding. After scoring a quick 18 which included a couple of massive sixes, Jags played another cross batted shot which was caught in the deep. Pinkneys were in a spot of bother at this point with four of their top order wickets gone for 120 runs.

Then came Isuru Dassanayake to the crease and together with Chris Heyes put up a great partnership. Isuru scored some great shots over long on and managed to get 33 quick runs which included one hit over the ropes and another 3 boundaries. He was unlucky to get out when he edged one off his bat/pad which clipped the wicket. With the fall of Isuru’s wicket brought Tim Snapes to the wicket who was solid from the start itself. Just when Tim and Chris were forging a partnership, Chris managed to offer a simple catch off the bowling of Mathur and was out for 15.
The dismissal of Chris brought Sal Withana to the crease. Pinkneys were another 50 odd runs away from what would be a great win but had lost half their side and had 3 colts players to bat, so things were not looking that great for them. Sal opened the scoring with a six over long on but then controlled his shots and became very selective in his shot making. Tim played a great role in rotating the strike and managed to give strike to Sal who scored three sixes and a boundary in an entertaining knock of 36. Pinkneys now had only 7 runs to win and had two overs to get them. Just then Sal played a rash shot which was caught in the deep by a Purley fielder.

The Purley skipper who then took over the bowling was constantly walking up to the Pinkneys Green young colts batsmen and trying to unnerve them. In the midst of this petty jabber and after scoring another valuable 3 runs, Tim managed to edge one to the Purley wicket keeper and as the gentleman he always is, walked back to the pavilion even though the umpire hadn’t given it out. Then went Jake Stokes who scored 2 runs and was caught at mid-on. Pinkneys now had to get 2 runs from the last two deliveries and in the wicket were the young colts Warren and Ben. The Purley captain tried his antics again but unfazed by this childish behaviour, Ben managed to cut one towards covers which brought them the 2 runs they needed to win this game. This brought about great celebrations in the Pinkneys stand and the Pinkneys players could be seen running towards the pitch to congratulate the two colts who managed to finish the game off for them.

This indeed was a great team effort where the Pinkneys boys showed true grit and class under immense pressure. Regional finals here we come!

---Report by Saliya Withana