SCUD MAKES HIS MARK
22/06/04: Honorary member Ed Carter scored his first ever century to help the President's XI beat the OLCC by 14 runs.
Carter's superb 102, which ended only when he suffered a not-so-crippling leg injury that caused him to retire, allowed the President's XI to post an imposing 280 for five declared.
It was a total that appeared well out of the OLCC's reach when they slipped to 145 for five after Andrew Moss counter-attacked with a trademark innings of 78, but Dayalan Doriasamy smashed an exhilirating 61 to lift them to 266 before he was last out - to Ed Carter.
After winning the so-called toss and opting to bat, President Graham Carter's side made a cautious start in the face of some fine bowling from Geoff and Phil Samuels.
It was Geoff who made the first breakthrough, having Richard Newell Price (9) caught behind by Nick Wood, and brother Phil got in on the act too as Chris Straw's fine catch in the gully dismissed Julian Shackel (12) to leave the President's XI on 31-2.
But at this point the Samuelses were forced to concede the limelight to the Carter brothers, with Ed and Tom combining for a solid partnership of 92 that ended only when the latter, having just reached his fifty, let a Dayalan Doraisamy delivery through to bowl him for 52.
If the OLs sensed they were about to get back into the game at this stage, their hopes were to be dashed as Ed Carter and Tom Gillmor upped the pace with a ferocious stand of 100, Gillmor being particularly savage against the bowling of Nick Torry and Paul Chalmers on his way to a swashbuckling 63 off just 50 balls.
Gillmor evenutally fell lbw to John Crosfield but Carter continued to pile on the runs for the President's XI and another sweetly struck four - the 12th of his innings - took him to a well-deserved hundred and saw him instantly withdraw from the fray with the score on 267 for four.
There was one more success for the OLs, John Acland-Hood (1) mistiming a pull off Phil Samuels straight to John Crosfield, but Robert Harvey (4*) and James Berridge (9*) took the score to 280 for five before the declaration finally arrived.
Rain then forced an early tea break, at which both sides gathered to see David Pollard become a Life Vice-President of the OLCC, Graham Carter making the presentation of his certificate.
Once the game resumed, Andrew Moss and Robert Stein embarked on statistically significant partnership of 112 that gave the OLCC a platform to attempt to get the runs required. Moss was first to go, bowled by Richard Newell Price for 78, and Stein followed shortly afterwards for 30 when he skied a catch off Julian Fitter to James Berridge.
A mini-collapse then ensued as Chris Straw (6) was caught by Newell Price at slip to give Fitter his second wicket, Nick Wood (13) fell to a subtle change of pace from Newell Price, and Nick Torry (5) became Fitter's third victim to leave the OLs wobbling on 145 for five.
But Jon Shingles and John Crosfield began the recovery with a stand of 23 before the latter fell lbw to Graham Carter for six, and Shingles then combined with Doraisamy to take the OLs past 200 but his innings of 36 ended when he was bowled attempting another big hit off Gillmor.
Yet Doraisamy kept the OLCC's hopes alive, defying the required run rate that hovered around the 10-11 mark. He added 30 with Paul Chalmers (3), who fell to Gillmor as he looked for four on the short boundary, and another 30 with Geoff Samuels (7), who also perished looking for runs on the short side of the wicket with Graham Carter claiming his second victim.
Doraisamy's efforts, which had seen the OLs get to the position of needing 25 runs off 18 balls at one stage, finally came to an end in the last over as he bravely sought the 15 runs still required and fell to a slower ball, the proceedings being fittingly wrapped up by Ed Carter.
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