Caught and Bowled Two
– 31st August 2019
Metro won the BBS Cup, for the first time it was renamed after Heindrich, in a match that at the end was much less stressful for supporters at the County Ground in Bristol than their semi-final win at Highgate had been.
Amazingly once again the win was secured by a caught and bowled as Rory look a great low catch to dismiss the other skipper for 65 in the thirteenth over. It was a great comeback after that over had started with twelve runs conceded off four balls, but then ended with two wickets in two balls as the incoming batsman was caught by Mo at mid-wicket to leave Rory on a hat trick; one that was not to be when he returned to bowl 14 overs later.
Photo of the County Ground in Bristol with metro team warming upAfter an excellent tea provided by Gloucestershire of lasagne and salad Metro’s opening bowlers Gareth and Mo had got the defence of Metro’s score off to the expected quality start as, backed up by quality fielding, they limited the reply to just 10 from the first four overs. Mo picking up the first of his two wickets as Matt took a good catch at cover to dismiss Rory H. As Somerset kept their scoring worm ahead however it was that catch, and the wicket next ball that swung the game in favour of Metro.
At half way Somerset were on 99 still 15 ahead of where Metro had been but crucially they had lost three wickets. They managed to score less than half that in the remaining overs reaching just a gross for the loss of 7 wickets at the end of their innings.
Eight of those were part of Steve Cook’s 34, a shot that resulted in Prem coming on to cover for Mark Bond who cramped up after chasing the ball all the way to the fine leg boundary. Mo and Justin put together back to back maidens at overs nineteen and twenty; a feat followed by Rory and Andy Law in overs twenty-eight and twenty-nine. Andy ended his two overs with two wickets for just three runs, in addition to that maiden. His second wicket was a stunning catch from Mark Russell who ran from slip to silly point to grab the ball.
Mark had been at the crease as Metro’s innings ended on the fourth highest ever cup final score of 233, twenty-seven short of the record, relieving the pain of the low score in last year’s final. There had been concern that this may not have been possible as light rain and grey skies delayed the start by almost an hour, but all agreed that the match should remain at thirty overs and Metro were put into bat so it was over to Matt and Nick. The start was electric as Matt hit two fours, including one from a no ball, before the bowlers struck back supported by effective fielding to limit both Nick and then Andy to low scores so that when the second wicket fell in the ninth over, with Andy’s runner not getting back for a second the score was only 43.
As the sky started to turn blue and the sun shone Metro started to build on this platform with Justin joining Matt at the crease. Shortly after Matt reached 50 Justin hit the only 6 of the day, over square leg, to bring up 100 in the nineteenth over. The pair put on 125 for the third wicket before Matt was bowled by Mikey for 73, there has only been one higher partnership in a BBS cup final. Justin was finally out, caught and bowled by Ed having scored 89 from 63 balls – exactly the same number as faced by Matt – having hit 13 fours as well as that six.
Congratulations to Metro’s winning cup team; the XI on the day – Rory Field, Hassan Khan, Amit Amin, Andy Law, Mark Russell, Matt Dean, Mo Ghalib, Justin Hollingsworth, Nick Ebbeck, Mark Bond and Gareth Jones; the three who were there in support: Rob McKenzie as well as Mujahaid Zabit and Prem Sellathurai, who along with Ryan Jones and Matt Pounder had played in earlier rounds.
The cricket season end in Woverhampton on 21st September when Metro play in the David Townley T20 cup finals day, along with Sussex, Northants and Yorkshire.
Report by Paul Toplis
“What a win for the Metro cricket team today in the national cup final. Congratulations to all of the players. Well done to both teams! ” – Martin Symcox
“They did it! Well done to Metro cricket team for winning by 89 runs today to lift the trophy! A brilliant performance from Somerset also which provided a great cricket final” – Charlie Raven
