piginfo

Man of the Match, Justin “Victor Trumper” Fabo

Pigs C.C vs. North Shore
Grade:        A Reserve
Venue:        Pig Park (aka Gore Hill)
Pigs C.C      8/180 (40 Overs)
North Shore   140 (36.1 Overs)

Under a glorious blue sky, the Pink Pigs had another one-dayer at the equally glorious Pig Park (Gore Hill). This time we were up against the very competitive North Shore outfit, who were sitting in equal first spot on the table with both the Bonnons and the Pigs. With a lush outfield, runs were going to be at a premium. At the toss of the coin, Skipper Stewart called “Tails” and as luck/skill would have it, it came up Tails. “We’ll have a bat”.

Damo and Ricky padded up and the game was on. North Shore started well and kept the runs down with openers not off to their usual flyer, but keeping the scoreboard ticking over all the same. After 6 overs we were 0 for 18. The scoreboard moved a bit quicker in the 7th and 8th overs (with 8 runs coming from each). Ricky was then sent on his way (for a season high 12) in the 9th and Skipper Stewart was called into action. 3 dots later and we were 1/34 off 9. Damo has then blasted the first ball of the 10th back at the bowler and luckily for Damo, Whalley has put the catch down, but unluckily for the backing-up Stewart, he has been run out off the Whalley deflection……. Score 2/34……. Adam Ant then joined his brother in the middle and the boys put on 44 for the 3rd wicket¸ before Damo was caught for 49……. Score 3/78…….. Peller then strides to the crease to “Carry” his fellow Piggers once again and immediately goes after Bromleys’ spinners, only to get caught for a Silver Duck…..Score 4/78.

At this stage, with both Stewart and Peller gone Duck Hunting, some of us are thinking anything over 100 would be nice. Deller replaces his brother in the middle, but Adam Ant goes shortly after for 13. After a cautious start by Deller and Fabo, the guys start finding the middle and scoreboard begins to move upwards again. But once again, another wicket falls and Deller is caught for 12……..Score 6 for 96 (after 28)……. With the “Piggy-Tail” now holding the Pigs hopes of scoring a defendable total, Pete W joins Justin in the middle and they proceed to mount a challenge to the North Shore attack. Thinking that they are now well and truly into our tail, North Shore mistakenly take their foot off accelerator and start bowling in a very different manner to previously. Pete W and particularly Mr Justin Fabo take full advantage and proceed to add 39 valuable runs for the 7th wicket. Pete was then caught for 9. During their partnership Fabo has hit a couple of glorious sixers, along with some crushing fours…..Score 7 for 135…… Stato then joins Fabo in the middle. Watching Justin at the other end finding the middle on every ball and with only 5 overs left, Stato decides to try his luck against Fogg. 5 dots later and the score board hasn’t moved. Fabo then tells Horley the next guy doesn’t spin the ball “just have a go at him”. Stato’s eyes light-up and he hits it straight to mid-off for a “well” made duck…..Score 8 for 145….. Bucky and Fabo then bat out the remainder of the innings with Bucky (19n.o) getting in on the runs and Fabo bringing up his 50 on the last ball of the innings which also happened to be a “no-ball”. Justin does a replay with the next last ball and dispatches it to the mid-wicket boundary to finish on 55n.o. The Piggers finish at 8 for 180 off their maximum 40 overs. A fantastic effort considering both Stewart (unlucky), Peller (not unlucky)…………….. plus the previous un-dismissed Stato (who sacrificed his wicket for the team…… really I did………… you know I did………..OK, maybe it was just a crap shot) added 0 runs between them.

A quick Tea Break (literally a tea break for Pete W) and we were back on the field. The “ever-chatty in the field” Mickan opened for North Shore with “New Guy” Nemah. Whit started from the Hospital end and was beating the bat from the get-go… 0-1 off 1… Stato (1/18) then took the new cherry from the Highway end and keeping the ball up to the North Shore openers, kept runs to a minimum…0 for 4 (off 4 Overs). At this rate, I think their openers forgot that it was a One-dayer. After some near misses, Stato took the first wicket, bowling Nemah for 10….Score 1 for 27 off 10….Batting Saviour Fabo then took over from Whit’s end and bowled tight to build up the pressure again. He dismissed Mickan (20) to a skyed caught and bowled in the 15th over to have North Shore at 2 for 42. Collins and Wilson then took North Shore to a reasonable 2 for 71 at the Drinks break.

Needing 110 off the last 20, North Shore thought they had better get a move on. Fabo continued to bowl tight and with Peller taking over from the disappointed Stewart (still sitting on 99 Pigs Career Wickets), the boys built up some good pressure. “Flicker” Collins (28) was the next man to go, caught by Stato at gully off Peller…..Score 3 for 81 (24th over). Fabo (3/25 off eight) then finished off his spell and an excellent all round game by bowling both new man Whalley (3) and Wilson (20) shortly after, to have “Shore” struggling at 5 for 84. Bucky (1/21) took over from Fabo and also taking a liking for the middle stump, proceeded to bowl Saunders (7) shortly afterwards….Score 6 for 100….Peller then took his 2nd for the day when he got Skipper Bromley (1) to clip it to brother Deller at gully/point (somewhere near there)…Score 7 for 110 (30 overs). With number 6 Bowden now holding the hopes of “Shore” in his hands, he blasted Bucky’s “in the slot” ball back at “RFB”. Not expecting to be seeing the ball coming back at such high velocity, RFB put down the sharp chance. Bowden then took off for a quick single, but with great athleticism Adam Ant ran out Lamb at the other end with a direct hit(knocking the ball-magnet middle stump out of the ground)… Score 8 for 124… It was now or never for North Shore with Rajaram joining Bowden in the middle. With Peller enticing the batsmen down the wicket, Bowden smashed the ball to deep Mid-On where Stato has raced in for the catch, only for the ball to end up going over his head. Peller gives him “the Steve Waugh glare”. Stato is now hoping that Bowden will leave him alone, but not likely. Rajaram then decides to see if he can do the same thing and hits it to Mid-on, only for the “unlucky” Stato to grass what should have been the 9th wicket….. Score 8 for 137 off 34…. The experienced Whit then starts his second spell from the hospital end and is straight in on the action, knocking the Dangerous Bowden’s middle stump out. Stato breathes a sigh of relief. Whit (2/15) then raps up the 10th wicket getting Fogg caught by Skipper Stewart on the Mid-Wicket boundary. All out for 140. Pigs win by 40 runs.

The Pink Pigs 7th consecutive victory ensures they take Top Spot on the One-dayer Table (with only one 1-dayer to go – Round 14 vs Wanderers) and at least equal first (depending on the Bonnons result) in the Main Comp. Mr Justin “Victor Trumper” Fabo took out the Man of the Match award for his 55 not out and 3 wickets. Special Thanks go out to Pete Williams and Deller for helping us out this week, with Seldon and Hay missing in action.