Sunday 22nd July 2001 vs Sundowners C.C. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rampant Roche | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Washington C.C. | 168 all out | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sundowners C.C. | 103 for 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A maiden half-century from hard-hitting Irishman John Roche was the centrepiece of an excellent Washington display on Sunday. Only nerveless batting from the Sundowners' tail held the Islington side at bay during the tense final overs and denied Washington victory. Washington had first bat on a pitch which misbehaved all afternoon: no fewer than 10 of the 20 batsmen registered scores of 0! However, Wash rode the early loss of Pete Demetri and David Walker for just 5 to bat their way into a potentially match-winning position. Alan Moffatt led the revival, banging a typically forthright 14, and big Cornishman Billy Bettison (43) continued the job: mixing aggression with patience, he added 43 for the fourth wicket with Matthew Cragoe (23) and got Roche into the mood for the middle-order run feast that followed. Both men bagged a brace of sixes as their sixth wicket stand added 47 in rapid time. When Bettison perished, Roche took over his mantle, playing the good ball with a straight bat and hitting the bad ball very hard. He remained unbeaten at the end on 55, having defied even the excellent David Cattel (6-43), and steered Washington to a competitive all-out total of 168. Just how competitive was revealed when Wash got the ball in their hands. Led by the rampant Jimmy Wood (4-10), and aided by a blinding catch in the slips from Gary Evans, Washington reduced the home side to 40-6. An early sunset for the Sundowners seemed inevitable, but skipper Mike McGowan (59 not out) provided the home side with an inextinguishable ray of hope. First, he and Mark Nesbitt (10) restored stability with a stand of 37; then, after three wickets in four balls from Bettison had brought Washington to the verge of victory, he batted out the last six overs with Cattell. So, frustration for the Wash, but any disappointment at their inability to force a result was tempered by their unconfined joy at Roche's performance; as skipper Walker said afterwards: 'it was the highlight of the season so far, and I want a hundred next time!'
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