The 2s arrived at the picturesque Great and Little Tew cricket grounds on a weirdly autumnal Saturday afternoon confident of securing 25 points needed to maintain their top 3 standing on the div 3b league table. The opposition captain elected to bat under ominous overhead conditions and the rain reduced 43 over match got off to a frenetic start with the Tew openers determined to reinforce Cricket’s reputation as a notoriously fickle recreation that relies upon an intriguing blend of luck and skill. The batters lived on the edge and off the sweet spot of the bat in equal measure, adopting an aggressive intent on a pitch that played true (and flat!) despite the overcast weather.

Musky and Arthur Baldock were unlucky not to grab a wicket or two during the power play having induced a fair number of false shots, but Doctor Amaan’s surgical strike on the middle stump in the 10th over eventually settled the early nerves for the team. The Doc broke through again in his next over, aided this time by Tom “Flash” Norton who, whilst standing up to the medium pacer, gathered a lightening leg side snick off the bewildered batter that would have made MS Dhoni proud.

The hosts continued to maintain a healthy run rate of just under 5 despite losing a couple of wickets thanks to the pitch that enabled the batters to hit through the line, favouring the shorter boundary on one half of the ground and the 5th wicket partnership soon started to look threatening at 180-4.

Enter Balaji Ramalingam and Andrew Jarvis, who embarked on a fine exhibition of Darts thereupon, shooting down the middle stump with clockwork precision and recurrence, as the young opposition batters commenced their own little game of Six or Out! The 2s also picked up their fielding standard during this passage of play with stunning dives in the inner circle and some fine saves in the outfield especially by Faizaan Abbas. Soon enough, the wheels came off for the opposition as they lost the last 6 wickets for a mere 13 runs, courtesy the deadly Jarvo-Bala slog over choke, with the last wicket fittingly falling to the final Jarvo special in-cutter masterfully gathered by Tom down the leg side to effect another, now routine “Flash Norton” stumping.

The 2s got off to a rapid start in the chase with Muir commencing the power play assault with eye-catching boundaries crunched both sides of square. He unfortunately departed in the third over feathering one to the keeper but despite his dismissal, it was “Harry all the Way” at the other end. Way, who has a simple game founded upon straight lines batted in a rhythm often found in batters on top of their game, with an equal blend between defence and attack. After a 50-run partnership with Chandru and adding another 22 runs with Balaji, Harry departed the crease with a profound air of regret, having scored an ornate 43 studded with lusty extra cover drives and imperious pull shots that promised so much more!

With the loss of quick wickets in a bunch, the 2s now found themselves precariously placed at 98-5. And whilst the asking rate wasn’t a problem, the new batters had to consolidate before putting the pressure back on the opposition again. And in came the gentle giants, Andrew Jarvis and Nick Hands, who first disarmed the opposition with their immaculate defensive technique but then slowly started to unleash their full repertoire of strokes conjuring up the perfect wagon wheel punctuating all parts of the ground.

Jarvo batted with such ease that it seemed he just happened to wander in, picked up a willow and set about following the simplest instructions to bat with a straight bat and forget about the rest. Some gorgeous drives were played through cover, several stylish glides through mid-wicket were summoned and occasionally the batsman erupted into a pull shot executed with the roll of the wrist and flash of arm that hinted at the artist to be found beneath the stoical exterior. On the other end, Hands played every ball on merit which sounds easy but is damnably difficult as each of his strokes was played with the conviction of a man carrying out his intentions with a clear mind, and none more so than the c. 80 metre six he savagely dispatched to the neighbouring field.

The chase was finally brought to a fitting end (once again!) by Jarvo with a majestic straight six as the 6th wicket pair finished the game with an unbeaten partnership of 99 with scores of 57* and 31* for Jarvo and Hands respectively. The 2s won convincingly in the end and with a win of this nature without firing on all cylinders yet and more time left to peak in the league, there is a lot of hope from this team to aim for a top tier finish this year. On to the next one, beware Minster Lovell!