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SHACK WRAPS UP SEASON IN STYLE

28/09/04: Julian Shackel held his nerve to hit the winning runs at Roehampton in the OLCC's final match of the season.

Shackel calmly stroked two elegant leg-side fours to nudge the OLs over the winning line after they collapsed from 136-4 to 151-9 in pursuit of 163 to win.

Roehampton had totalled 162 after a fine display of OL fielding had kept the lid on their innings.

Geoff Samuels grabbed the early breakthrough, Jon Shingles catching Liversedge for one, then P Bird followed when he was bowled by Richard Newell Price after making an ultra-cautious three.

But a key wicket followed in the next over as Shingles conceded 14 runs in his first over off Barnes (37) only to finish it by having him dismissed courtesy of a stupefying John Acland-Hood catch at deep backward square leg.

Samuels also displayed a safe pair of hands, taking a skyer at long-off to remove Macdonald-Brown for 15 and give Shackel his first wicket, and Newell Price then bowled Boag for a duck to put the OLCC in control at 80 for five.

And the visitors were to keep chipping away at the wickets: Shackel struck again when he had Stratford (13) caught behind by James Berridge then two more followed with the score on 123. Broom's 33 ended when he was bowled by Dayalan Doraisamy, then Josh Beer took a wicket with his first ball, Tom Gillmor taking an excellent catch at mid-on to remove Gray (6).

Shackel and Newell Price would then each claim their third wicket, the former bowling Donachie (15) and the latter accounting for Foster (7) thanks to another Acland-Hood special that closed the innings.

The OLCC reply began in style, with Gillmor counter-attacking brilliantly: he took four fours off successive balls off Barnes on his way to a sparkling 46 and added 45 for the first wicket with Acland-Hood, who was eventually caught behind for 13.

Gillmor departed within sight of his half-century, caught by Liversedge, and Charlie Beer (5) followed shortly afterwards when he hit a Donachie full toss to Gray at mid-on, leaving the OLs 78 for three.

Shingles and Doraisamy got the innings back on track with a stand of 30 that ended when the former was triggered lbw by skipper Dominic Beer for 20, but Doraisamy and Graham Carter put on a further 28 and at 136-4 the OLs appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory.

However within nine overs and half an hour, the match was turned on its head. Bird was the destroyer-in-chief, having Doraisamy caught at midwicket for a bruising 37, clean bowling both Carter (11) and Berridge (2), and having Dominic Beer given out lbw for six. The umpire? Shingles. Foster meanwhile had Samuels caught by Barnes in the gully for a duck so that Beer's dismissal left the OLCC 12 runs short of victory with one wicket remaining and 30 balls of the innings to go.

Newell Price (2*) played a key role in keeping out the now fired-up Foster and Bird, but last man Shackel it was who twice glanced the latter to the leg-side boundary for four and wrapped up a thrilling one-wicket win.

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