Redruth 1^st XI v St Gluvias 1^st XI – Saturday 21^st July 2007

St Gluvias won the toss and elected to bat on this dry, but overcast afternoon.  Redruth opened the bowling with Martin Strick from the cemetery end and Ben Stevens from the Albany (town) end, who both bowled tightly during their first spells, with St Gluvias at 25/1 off 13 overs.  First change bowlers Phil Bostock and Scott James then took over; it was Bostocks spin bowling that continued to keep the run rate down as St Gluvias’ batsman Andrew Smith was settling into a long stint at the crease and took advantage of James seam deliveries.  Captain Scott James soon replaced his bowling for more spin – this time Pete Thomas working from the cemetery end to compliment Phil Bostock at the other end.  Redruth’s bowling remained quite economical until the latter part of the innings when Andrew Smith took advantage of the balls on offer as he worked his way to 101 before eventually being caught by Scott James of Stricks bowling; by which time, St Gluvias were on 162, with just 2 overs remaining.  Redruth took a number of good catches in the field and James Hitchens was sharp behind the stumps, a good effort all round. St Gluvias 164/10 off 47.4 overs.

In reply, Redruth got off to a disastrous start when opener Dave Guffick was out within the first over; Dave Simpson then joined Steve Kevern at the crease and they put on 24 runs before Dave Simpson lost his wicket.  Next in at the crease was Nigel Hambly, who supported by Steve Kevern, steadily chipped away at the score. Steve Kevern eventually lost his wicket after being at the crease for 30 overs (117 minutes) and was replaced by Martin Strick.  Unfortunately, Martin was run out before putting any runs on the scoreboard and he was followed at the crease by Tim Manhire, who also failed to trouble the scorers or add runs to the board; by this point, Redruth were at 88/3 off 31 overs with an up-hill struggle in front of them.

Next at the crease was Pete Thomas, who spent a short time at the crease before being bowled by Andrew Julian, at which point, Redruth were 117/7 off 41 overs and the opportunity to turn the game in their favour was looking even more difficult.  Redruth’s remaining tail did their best to push the score on, with Scott James adding a quick fire 10 before being caught and Phil Bostock a quick 5, leaving Ben Stevens at the crease with James Hitchens coming in at Number 11, at which point the score was 151 and only 1.1 overs remaining and 14 runs required to win….a big ask, especially with pressure on two of the younger first eleven players, one of which with very little Division one batting experience under his belt.  Never the less, Ben and James played very maturely and made the most of every ball and the run total was also added to by Matt Julian bowling 3 wides in the last over, however, in the end, despite their best efforts, Redruth finished with one run short of achieving a draw, two short of a win.  Another nail biting and devastating end to a day’s play…..St Gluvias were the team to beat.

Scorecard: