Young Men's Social Club 258

Devonshire Rec. 169

Late heroics from Dennis Pilgrim (41) and Jeffrey Tyrrell (75) who put on 82 for the ninth wicket saved Young Men's Social Club from an embarrassing score as they ultimately defeated Devonshire Rec. by 89 runs in the opening round of the Central Counties Cup at Devonshire Recreation Club on Saturday.

Social Club didn't look like a team who are harbouring hopes of lifting silverware this season as a frail, early-order batting performance nearly let the game get out of their control.

The defending champions, who won the Central Counties title last year after a nailbiting victory over the same foes, were in all sorts of trouble and looked in danger of losing their crown when player/coach Charlie Marshall was adjudged lbw for 27 with a score on a precarious 108 for eight.

But then Rec. let themselves down, allowing the last three batsmen add 184 to carry the total to a respectable 258 - a target their own batsmen never threatened.

Pilgrim and Tyrrell saved the day for Social Club, taking their team's score to 190 before Pilgrim was bowled by Micah Straw, and then a tenth-wicket partnership of 68 between Tyrrell and Kani Darrell saw the total swelled of 258.

Darrell was the last man out, scoring 19, while Tyrrell finished with an unbeaten 75.

Tyrrell's game-saving performance spanned 75 balls, including eight fours and two sixes with his 50 coming up in 59 balls. Straw was the best bowler for Devonshire, returning figures of four for 49 off eight overs.

In reply, Devonshire didn't get off to a good start, losing skipper Ricky Brangman jr with the total only on seven.

Solidifying the innings for Devonshire was Oldapo Fredericks, who batted for over two hours, hitting 26 and playing his role in key partnerships to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Fredericks and Jeremy Fray (35) put on 51 runs for the third wicket and that was followed by a 36-run fourth-wicket stand between Fredericks and Tori Henry (42) before Fredericks departed with the score on 117 for four.

With the game now delicately poised, Henry seemed to have taken the match by the scruff of the neck as he produced some superb strokes to give Devonshire the confidence they needed to pull out victory.

Yet they quickly crumpled. After wicketkeeper Pierre Smith stumped Henry with the total on 148 for six, four wickets were lost with only one run being added, and defeat staring them in the face.

Social Club's constant threat was Darrell, who finished with five wickets for 33 runs.

"I feel we should have won the game relatively easy," said a disheartened Devonshire Rec. skipper Ricardo Brangman. "We let them out of the hole when Charlie was out and everyone assumed it would be finished after that.

"Our bowling went back a bit after the vital wicket was taken, and the fielding slacked off. In the end we only have ourselves to blame . . . when you don't focus on the task at hand.

"In chasing the total we had a plan, yet couldn't stick to it when things weren't working out. We needed to occupy the wicket and bat the overs out, and we couldn't do this.

"That is why we lost the match and in the end we can only kick ourselves for not bringing the trophy back to Devonshire Rec.

"We have to build from this loss and go forward in the league as a team. We have to pick things up in training.

"But there is still a lot of cricket left to be played and if we work hard we can gain some momentum and win a few games."