Friendly Match vs UBS, 1st September 2007, London Fields

Last Ball Victory Over Merchant Bankers
by our mid-week-captain, Chris Skinner

London Fields 233-8 (35 overs)
beat UBS 232-8 (35 overs) by 1 run

Welcoming a new team to the Fields is always an interesting occasion and this proved to be one of the most exciting matches of the summer. UBS, a select side from the bank of the same title arrived a few men down and elected to bat first.

Graeme and Steve opened the bowling in miserly fashion - Graeme going for just 12 off 5 overs whilst Steve took 2 cunning wickets as they attempted to hit themselves out of trouble. Tony T and Paul Turley joined the attack and each took a wicket in their respective first overs. This was however something of a mixed blessing as Rafi arrived to belt a lethal half-century, almost entirely in boundaries.

The luckless Tony and Turley could only look on forlornly as the ball repeatedly sailed away. Drastic action was needed and skipper Dave took the inspired decision to introduce Fredy Ore, who is surely one of the finest bowlers to hail from Peru. After bowling several fine balls, he then removed the danger man with a two-bounce Yorker and we were back in the match.

In an enthralling 2nd half of the UBS innings, they continued to play big shots, regardless of the loss of wickets, John Avery picking up 2 and Chris getting another at the death. We were set a very challenging target of 233, amidst a backdrop of apocalyptic skies.

Richard(10) and Ruby(15) started positively (it’s their only way!), but both they and Alex Chase (run out going for a very, er, optimistic run) fell in quick succession, and we were 42/3. This led to the arrival of the in-form Graeme and the ever impressive Dave who left the UBS field ragged.

A mixture of cheeky running and big hitting saw the pair add 76 before Dave was caught on 33 off the bowling of Ali, in his first over after taking the pads off. Disaster struck next ball when Tony was trapped LBW and momentum swung back to UBS, as the sky continued to darken.

Paul and Graeme quickly rebuilt, Graeme amassed 9 fours and a six in his commanding innings of 71, but his dismissal left us needing 70 still off the last 9 overs. Chris and Paul struggled to clear the outfield but kept up momentum by scampering between the wickets, turning 0s into 1s and 1s into 2s (etc.). We also had a few secret weapons waiting for UBS in the form of John Avery and Steve Donelan, snuck away down the order.

Turley’s dismissal (for a good 20) brought John to the crease who laid into the tiring attack with a quickfire 22. By now it was extremely dark but with the game so evenly poised, no one was considering stopping. We stuck to the required rate of around 8 an over but lost John, still needing 25 to win.

Chris and Steve both hit fours to bring the target to 12 from 2 overs, and then 6 off the final 6 balls. We brought the scores level with two balls to spare, and despite a bizarre attempted run out of the non-striker, fate conspired us to need 1 off the last ball to win. Steve, cool as a cucumber, lofted the ball back over mid off and victory was complete. Chris had nurdled his way to 20 not out, and Steve was on 9.

UBS took defeat graciously, knowing they had another chance at us next week, but this was without doubt, an incredibly sweet victory and will not be forgotten for a while.

Here's the scoreboard:

UBS 232/8 (35 overs)

London Fields bowling

Graeme	5	2	12	0
Steve D	7	0	30	2
Tony	4	0	32	1
Paul T	4	0	32	1
Freddie	3	0	24	1
Dave	2	0	21	0
John	7	0	48	2
Chris	3	0	13	1

Vikram 57
Rafi 54

London Fields 233/8 (35 overs)

Richard	Caught	10
Ruby	LBW	15
Alex C	Run Out	2
Graeme	Bowled	71
Dave	Caught	33
Tony	LBW	0
Paul T	Bowled	20
Chris	Not Out	20
John	Bowled	22
Steve	Not Out	9