Old Georgians CC

Report by Mark Trubshaw

Old Georgians (193 in 48.5 overs; MG Wimrich 65, J Tindall 51; M Pretorius 7-33) lost to Sussex Martlets (197-5 in 32.4 overs; J Hunt 58*, M Pretorius 53*) by five wickets

A belter of an Arundel wicket gave the visiting skipper no choice but to bat first but Old Georgians hadn’t banked on the Martlets opening bowlers, Marno Pretorius and Derek Horsham, being so miserly with runs. Pretorius’s first spell of nine overs included four maidens and resulted in two wickets for just ten runs. Horsham bowled 13 overs straight for only 34 runs and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket or three – not least because one of his deliveries hit the stumps without dislodging the bails.

The introduction of spin, however, did not glean the rewards looked for as the Old Georgians recovered to 133 for three at lunch after 33 overs.

After stomach-busting chicken & ham pie, there was some disquiet within the ranks at the lack of crumble on offer. However, the ball was tossed to Pretorius to restore some order after the pre-lunch onslaught. J Tindall (51) was the first wicket to fall after the break as he tried to guide to third man. Two overs later there was an excellent run out of M Wimrich (65) by Jack Hayden. Tindall and Wimrich had put on 40 runs after lunch in eight overs but Pretorius continued his second spell with intelligence and cunning and the final five Old Georgians wickets fell for a mere 20 runs. Pretorius’s final figures were 16.5 – 6 – 33 – 7. Trubshaw and Reynolds collected the other wickets and Old Georgians were 193 all out.

A solid Martlets start before tea saw the target of 194 reduced by 77 runs, with openers Sam Cooper (23) and Ollie Smith (24) back in the hutch. Julian Hunt began to find the middle of his bat, with some sublime hits for six over midwicket, and Jens Richardson batted well for his 20 and yet with the loss of two quick wickets the hosts found themselves with the game in the balance at 112 for 5 from 26 overs, with the last hour of play about to commence.

With Pretorius striding to the crease, however, it didn’t take long for momentum to shift well in favour of the Martlets, Hunt, when he could get the strike, proved a match for the young South African and it only took only overs of the final hour to score the required 80-odd runs. Pretorius finishing on 53 not out, striking the winning runs to bring up his fifty off 22 balls with eight fours and two sixes in just 27 mins.

Hunt (58*) hit the same number of boundaries, facing only 40 deliveries. Result Martlets win by five wickets with a sizeable 14 overs to spare.

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