SVCC Men's 3rd XI v Old Elthamians 1st XI (A) - 15.06.24

The Vine 3’s travelled to Old Elthamians on a wet & wintry day. Things weren’t looking too positive as we drove through heavy rain to get there, but upon arriving at Eltham we were welcomed by sunny skies and felt far more positive. The 2 captains sensibly opted for a shorter 30 over game as it was likely 1 or 2 interruptions were likely. The Vine lost the toss, again, and were asked to bat first.

The opening pair of Denny & Williams started brightly but were both removed quickly for 11 & 10 leaving the Vine 21-2 after 4 overs. Verma & Deacon set about rebuilding the innings and kept the scoreboard ticking over as they reached 52-2 after 15 overs when the heavens opened again and play was stopped. Thankfully the rather brisk breeze meant the clouds soon dispersed and play resumed 30 minutes later. Verma & Deacon continued building the innings and soon started accelerating the scoring rate. Deacon was out for an excellent 42 bringing Young to the crease in a rather lofty position of No.5. Verma continued scoring quickly and was rather unfortunate to be given out on 56 when he hooked a shoulder height full toss to deep mid wicket which neither umpire deemed to be a no ball. Young showed off his full repertoire of shots and brief cameos from Masding & Harvey got the Vine to 146-5 from their 30 overs.

A quick turnaround and Vine took to the field. Carslaw opened things up, but the OE’s skipper hit the first 3 balls for 4, all delicately guided down to 3rd man boundary using the pace of the ball very well. Using feedback from our batters, bowling spin into the wind was tricky to bat against so Young opened from the other end & the decision paid instant dividends as he took a wicket straight away. Carslaw removed the dangerous OE’s skipper in his next over and then 2 in 2 in his next over to leave OE’s struggling at 21-4. Young & Carslaw continued their excellent spells and after 10 overs OE’s were 35-4 and the run rate was now nearing 6 per over. Harvey & Williams entered the fray & Harvey struck quickly to have OE’s 5 down. Williams & Harvey took another wicket apiece and the Vine could sense victory. The rain returned but Vine showed no interest in leaving the field and to be fair the OE’s batters soldiered on admirably. At 7 down the batting became a little frenetic and a run out soon followed after Verma’s accurate throw to Denny. Read & Dickinson took the ball as the sun returned and captured a wicket apiece to leave OE’s all out for 99 in 26.2 overs. An excellent victory for the 3’s.