By Garreth Duncan

The Salix-Allstars rivalry goes (almost) all the way back to the foundation of our club, and the games have always been tight and close-fought. On World Cup final day, this time was different as we ended up ridiculously easy winners, thanks to some good bowling and an imperious century from Andy Clarke.

Salix’s captain Stuart Lumsden won the toss and asked us to field first on a burning hot day. We were quickly in amongst them as Tony Grant had opener Mark Rickman caught behind in an excellent opening spell. Haroon Khalid and Jon Ryan chipped in with two wickets each, and Salix were five down with less than 80 on the board.

But with the Allstars restricted by injuries to Captain Morgan and to quickie Chris Mitchell, Salix fought back hard with the big-hitting Chris Milton and left-hander “CK1” Kulasingham putting together a handy partnership, which Tristan eventually broke by having Milton caught behind by Jon Hautot. Chelsea’s finest followed up with two more catches to finish with an Allstars record of six, making a nonsense of his own pre-match comments that he was getting a bit old for this keeping lark.

At tea, Salix’s final score of 195-8 felt like 30 or 40 too many. But once Clarkey got going it never looked remotely enough. Mixing classical cover drives with clever deflections behind square, he treated all the Salix bowlers with disdain as the ball flew to all parts over the lightning-fast outfield. How we wish Talksport could let him play for us more regularly. He was well supported in an opening alliance of 67 with Andy Reid, who played the shot of the day, stepping down the track to hit Gavigan over midwicket, and then in a century stand with Chris, who hit a composed fifty to take us to victory with three overs to spare.

A great way to complete our first win of the season, and get home in time to watch the kicking contest in Johannesburg.

Scorecard

Salix CC v St Anne’s Allstars CC, Sunday 11 July 2010
Imperial College Sports Ground, Harlington
Weather: hot and sunny.
Toss: Salix.
Format: 35 overs a side; 7 overs per bowler.
Debuts: S. Juniper.

Salix

D Spillane lbw b Khalid 11
M Rickman c Hautot b Grant 13
D Gavigan c Clarke b Ryan 7
C Milton c Hautot b Haddow-Allen 46
B Shaw c Hautot b Ryan 0
*SEH Lumsden c Hautot b Khalid 7
C Kulasingham c Hautot b Grant 47
A Darling c Hautot b Haddow-Allen 0
T Collins not out 18
D Henig not out 2
Extras (b2 nb4 w38) 44
Total (35 overs) 195-8

Did not bat: O Shaw.
Fall: not recorded.

Bowling:

Mitchell 6-0-35-0
Grant 7-1-13-2
Khalid 7-1-30-2
Ryan 4-0-22-2
Juniper 3-0-20-0
T Haddow-Allen 6-0-43-2
Duncan 2-0-27-0

St Anne’s Allstars

A Clarke c Darling b Gavigan 112
AD Reid c Lumsden b Gavigan 24
C Mitchell not out 52
TAR Haddow-Allen c Gavigan b Darling 2
H Khalid not out 0
Extras (lb1 nb3 w2) 6
Total (32.2 overs) 196-3

Did not bat: †J Hautot, A Grant sr, *JG Morgan, S Juniper, GA Duncan, JM Ryan.
Fall: 1-67 (2), 2-187 (1), 3-191 (4).

Bowling:

Lumsden 7-0-36-0
Darling 7-0-51-1
Henig 7-0-37-0
Gavigan 6.2-0-30-2
Kulasingham 5-0-29-0

Result: Allstars won by 7 wickets.