Peasemore, Sunday 2nd August 2020

30 Over Match: Peasemore beat Inkpen by 84 runs (Peasemore 197/7 in 30 overs, Inkpen 113 all out in 26.1 overs)

Team: Dave Lester (Capt), James Hall, Doug Hall, John Donohoe, Luke Donohoe, Josh Donohoe, Richard Mitchell, James Wooldridge, Ian Dixon, Simon Hanna, Richard Broer

Match report by Dave Lester…

With the sun blazing down, the ginger burn cream applied and the physio and doctor taking a well-earned break after having worked overtime during the week, Inkpen CC were off on the road to Peasemore. With the ground looking lovely and 50% of the team found in the local pub (lovely scotch eggs) prior to the start it was already shaping up to be a great afternoon… As is traditional, Inkpen lost the toss and were put into field. The Inkpen team this week had family feel to it, with the Donohoe’s and the Hall’s filling up the team sheet. Young Josh “Hugo Lloris” Donohoe was selected to take the wicketkeeper spot, with the older and the very oldest Donohoe’s primed to open the bowling.

Luke” Deep Heat applied” Donohoe began by luring the batsman into a false sense of security with a FEW wides and no-balls before finally hitting the mark, clean bowling two batsmen in the first over. The scoreboard read 9 runs for 2 wickets off 1 over… were Inkpen about to skittle a team out for under 100? You can have a guess at the answer. Out strode Oscar Bean at number 3 for Peasemore who, based on this performance, is likely to be a name on the England team sheet sooner rather than later. So with father and eldest son Donohoe being put to the sword, it was time to turn to Eian “spelt with an E” Dixon to bamboozle the batsman. With the runs flowing as fast as the beer prior to the game it was Eian “I’ve got too much sun cream on my hands” Dixon that nearly made the breakthrough. Unfortunately he thought he was at a job interview for the circus and showed some impressive juggling skills, however he forgot the bit about not dropping it. With the pink cap of shame waiting for him at the end of the over, he delivered a sucker punch the very next ball trapping the Peasemore opener LBW for 21. 73-for 3 soon turned into 77 for 4 with another ripper from Dicko, and Inkpen’s plan of 5 rubbish balls with one good ball to get them out seemed to be working.

With the boundary still being peppered and starting to resemble a Swiss cheese, the skipper “it was already over my head before I could catch it” Lester needed to change tack. Inkpen needed fresh ideas, so just back from a two week break, James “flight lieutenant” Wooldridge was called up. Could he turn back the clock and strike fear into the Peasemore batsmen? Sort of, although he did provide Inkpen with another wicket, clean bowled… ahhh, wait, no… a no ball called, could he do it again, YES he could next ball, same outcome, the only difference being this one landed on the pitch before striking the bails. 97-6… was this to be a close game? Would Inkpen be able to restrict Peasemore to under 120? Alas no. Peasemore’s future England star passed 50 and was well on his way to a classy 100. The run rate was creeping up… Even Rich “I should be at a BBQ” Broer couldn’t slow it down so over to Dave “the pie man” Lester to throw some “fray-bentos” down but even the skipper’s finest efforts couldn’t stop Peasemore scoring 197-7 off their 30 overs with an unbeaten 103 for the Peasemore county U19 youngster, followed up by their No 12, Joe Extras, with the second highest score of 35. A tough task was awaiting Inkpen… Could they pull off one of the greatest run chases they’ve ever managed? You already know the answer. Before we move onto the batting a special mention must go to the youngest player of the squad, Josh “I’ll show you how to do it Mitchell” Donohoe who was not only stopping everything from going past him with some brilliant finger tip saves around the post (surely some mistake here Ed?), but he did not once throw his gloves off or get injured during the innings, which for an Inkpen wicketkeeper is a record in itself.

So after slapping on the factor ginger and downing a quick drink it was Inkpen in to bat, With James “Mum is away, Dad said it’s ok for me to open” Hall and John “I’ll have a go at opening” Donohoe striding to the crease to get us off to a good start. With 5 overs gone the unthinkable had happened… no Inkpen wicket had been lost. Was 2020 throwing another unlikely event at us? Don’t be silly, as 16-0 soon turned into 16-1. Over to the skipper to enter the crease… Was a big score possible? Well for a couple of minutes it looked possible as Inkpen moved onto 55-1 off 13 overs… If we could get towards 120 inside 20 overs then the chase was on.

Unfortunately Peasemore had other plans and with the return of an “injured” bowler both James and the skipper fell inside one over, the skipper falling to a wonderful catch off the top edge and James being bowled by a beauty. The scoreboard now read 63-3. We were now onto the 4th change bowler… what did Peasemore have left? Let me tell you not only could Mr Bean bat (with 103 not out) but it turned out he could bowl fairly well too. So with stumps flying and a 5 wicket haul beckoning (including a hat trick for 16 runs with a little bit of help from umpire John “my finger loves pointing up” Donohoe), Inkpen were reduced to 94-8. However gloomy this looked there was a positive with Eian “I just don’t want to get a duck” Dixon managing to hit a few runs (4) before being bowled. That left getting over 100 once again the target for Inkpen and with Doug “new high score of 5” Hall and some wonderful batting from Josh “what a lovely back lift, taught by the skipper at nets” Donohoe getting us over the line, Inkpen finally finished on 113 all out.

As the sun set on yet another beautiful day of cricket, the scorebook showed an Inkpen defeat by 82 runs. Solace was taken (over a cold pint) that if you take away one young man’s outstanding performance, Peasemore only hit 94 and Inkpen won the game in 20 overs. Onwards and upwards… and the team have a special treat this week hosting 2 games in 4 days, with a 20/20 on Thursday night and a 30 over game on Sunday. Better warn the neighbours there could be fireworks…