The 2nd XI suffered another defeat – a three wicket loss to Honiton – but the outcome of the contest comes a ‘big second’ to the tale of the action and, indeed, the heroics performed by an XI who, to a man, gave their absolute all!
This is an unusual way to report a fixture – but we are going to do it anyway! We start by name checking our ELEVEN stars: Jason Dowrick (capt), Dave Penberthy (wk), Will Birley, Tom Hardy, James Mills, Liam Reed, Paul Bastin, Pete Harmer, Pete Hardy, Oli Hardy and Jonny Reed.
On the morning of the game there were just nine players and it was thanks to the Hardy brothers, Pete and Oli, that we eventually fielded a full XI.
The toss was a contrived affair in as much as, given the strength of the Ninch XI, visiting skipper Dave Haysom sportingly agreed to let the home side bat first to ‘make a game of it’.
Will Birley and Tom Hardy opened and there were no fewer than 18 runs scored off the opening over with Will Birley despatching four of the six legitimate deliveries in the opening eight ball over, top the boundary. With the score on 30, Hardy was caught at fine leg with a shot that, on any other day, would surely have gone over the ropes. However, a well-placed Cory Lapping held the catch and Hardy departed for six with the successful bowler being Brandon Night.
Just five runs were added before Birley top edged the ball to gift a catch to Pete Matravers off the bowling of Cory Lapping, and the opener trooped back with 25 runs to his name.
Dave Penberthy and Jason Dowrick then got together and doubled the score taking it to 73 when Dowrick holed out to Cory Lapping off the bowling of Alan Ostler; the Ninch skipper dismissed for seven.
Penberthy was joined by number five bat James Mills and the pair took the total to 97 when Mills, much to his annoyance, holed out to Blake Freemantle to give Ostler his second wicket. Mills was out for a 15-ball 19 which included a six and two fours.
Liam Reed joined Penberthy and they took the total into three figures before, with the score on 118, Reed was caught behind by Honiton skipper Dave Haysom and was out for eight. Paul Bastin, playing only his second game in two decades, was next man in, and out, caught by Rob Ingram to give Ostler his third wicket, Bastin, one of a number of players in action for Ninch and ‘North’ of 65 years of age, was out for second ball duck. Just seven runs were added when another fabulous Dave ‘Digger’ Penberthy innings came to an end with the Hatherleigh-based batsman/wicket-keeper dismissed by a Pete Matravers catch off the bowling of Alan Ostler – a fifth wicket for the Honiton man with ‘Digger’ out for a 49-ball 41. Two further wickets fell with the score board showing 127 – Pete Harmer fell for six – he hit a two and then an ‘overthrow’ took the ball to the boundary to give Harmer his ‘six’ and the other wicket to fall with the score on 127 was that of Oli Hardy, choppiong the ball onto his stumps having not troubled the scorer – this duck a nine ball ‘quacker’. With the team slumping from 117-4 to 127-9 within six overs, it was left to last man Jonny Reed to join Pete Hardy. The last pair did well, so well indeed that they equalled the ‘seasons best’ for the last wicket in a 2nd XI league game – adding 11 before Reed, who had hit a splendid boundary, was caught by Andrew Lapping off the bowling of Rob Ingram. Reed was out for six, his highest score of the season while Pete Hardy, the third of the Hardy’s to grace the hallowed turf in this game, was the not out batsman with five runs to his name.
Ninch were all out for 138 in 30.2 overs. The best of the partnerships was the 38 put on by Digger and Jason (Dowrick) for the third wicket while Will (Birley) and Tom (Hardy) put on 30 for the opening wicket and Digger and James (Mills) added 24 for the fourth wicket.
In terms of the Honiton bowling, one set of figures took the honours and that was the six for 24 in the nine overs (two maidens) sent down by Alan Ostler. Rob Ingram (2-21 in 7.2 overs), Cory Lapping (1-28 in six overs) and Brandon Knight (1-34 from six overs), were the other wicket takers while the fifth bowler to see action was Ian Kelly (0-22 from two).
Faced with a low target – 139 to win – Honiton openers, skipper Dave Haysom and young Matthew Matravers launched the run chase, but, with the score on 4 – the runs scored by Haysom, the skipper fell to a superb slip catch held by Liam Reed. One down and four runs on the board was soon 25-2 with Nathan Groves caught by Tom Hardy off the bowling of Liam Reed with Grove out for six and no runs were added before young Matravers fell to a Dave Penberthy catch to give Mills a second wicket.
It got even better for Ninch when Mills, bowling arguably his best spell for the Ninch, trapped Andrew Lapping leg before without the Honiton batter troubling the scorers and, suddenly, the run chase was a troubled 27-4!
Just seven runs were added before a fifth wicket was claimed with Reed trapping Blake Freemantle leg before, the Honiton man having scored seven and his team were now 34-5.
Just five runs later and the ‘patched-up’ Ninch 2nd XI were in seventh heaven – well, ‘sixth heaven’ as a sixth wicket was snared, Reed dismissing Pete Matravers who holed out to Tom Hardy for four to leave Honiton wobbling on 39-6.
Three more overs were bowled before the tea break was called and it was, without doubt, this break in play that went against Ninch and very much, played into the hands of the visiting side.
At the break, the Mills bowling figures stood at 3-24 from eight while the other seven overs had been sent down by Reed with his return an equally impressive 3-30.
However, after the tea break, the final Mills over – the first after the break – went for 15 while the opening over post tea, sent down by Reed, went for 13 and, suddenly, after 17 overs, Honiton were now 70-6.
With Mills (3-39) and Reed (3-43) bowled out it was over to Dave Penberthy to replace Mills at the Tennis Court End. ‘Digger’ had worn the wicket keeping pads before the break and here he was turning his arm over for the first time in six years!
Will Birley, who had bowled so well in the previous home game, bowling down the hill to claim a ’fourfer’, was tasked with bowling from the Mill End.
However, the Honiton batsmen, Rob Ingram and Alan Ostler were now looking comfortable and the winning line got ever closer. There was one more bowling success for Ninch with ‘Digger’ getting an lbw decision in his favour to send Ostler back for a 42-ball 45.
That seventh wicket fell with the score on 128, but the 89-run partnership between Ingram and Ostler had broken the back of the run chase and Kev Kelly joined Ingram to issue the last rites to the brave Ninch effort.
The three wicket win was sealed off first ball of the 27th over with Ingram finishing not out 47 from the 51 balls he faced and Kelly was unbeaten on 5.
For Ninch, the Mills 3-39 from nine and the Reed 3-43, also from nine, were the standout returns, Penberthy (1-29 from five) was the other wicket taker and Will Birley (0-19 from 4.1 overs) was the fourth bowler to see action.
So, defeat for the 2nd XI, but what a SUPERB EFFORT from all eleven involved.