Match Report

A glorious Norfolk morning saw half the side on Holkham beach, whilst Bruce Lindsay followed a leisurely stroll round King's Lynn by picking up Raj and Matt at the station and then ferrying them all to a pre-match Fish and Chip feast in Hunstanton. Most made it to the ground by 2.00 and at 2.20 the game began with Hetairoi tempted to bat on a pitch that looked so much better than the Rising's wet wicket of the day before. Half an hour later the captain's decision looked very poor. Generous umpiring saw a flood of apparent wides exonerated, whilst in between times Fenn for 0, Megone for 6, Raj for 14 and Andrews for 0 all fell on what was proving to be a very slow wicket. At this point Slade, encouraged by his stylish performance of the previous day, joined Oliver and between them the innings was pulled round. Slade only scored 8 but batted solidly for over an hour whilst Oliver mixed circumspection with some powerful blows. Thanks to a large and very slow outfield, even Oliver's blows failed to reach the boundary, and scoring remained slow. But 50 had been posted before Oliver was fifth out. By this time Hunstanton were rattling through the overs with an all spin attack, but the tail wagged with Bradley, Turnbull and Matt all contributing very usefully. The captain was contemplating declaration, before a risky second ended in disaster as Lindsay hastened unsuccessfully to the danger end. 128 all out was none the less more than could have been hoped, and HCC felt Hunstanton were unduly confident at tea (as usual delicious with an abundance for all the families too).

Abel and Turnbull bowled tightly but unusccessfully against a good opening partnership, Turnbull partly thwarted by Megone spilling a skyer. But in his last expected over Abel found a Yorker and then an absolute fizzer to remove two in two balls and open up the game. The second produced a fine slip catch by Andrews. At the other end Lindsay came on, and encouraged by Fenn to think he was bowling at Turnbull (the cause of his runout), he produce a now expected dazzling spell of medium paced wobblers. A five-wicket haul, the number of clean bowleds testifying to his excellent line. Hunstanton's skipper appeared at 9, but when he was out they needed18 off two overs with two wickets left. Raj was brought on in fading light to tempt an assault, but the opposition closed up shop. Nonetheless a fine ball from Raj brought an edge to the keeper, but in the gloom Fenn could not hold on. Two wickets in the last over was beyond even Andrews and the game ended in an exciting draw.

Man of the match: Lindsay

Champagne moment: Justin's second wicket caught at slip.