KING'S ROAD CRICKET AND SOCIAL CLUB

Welcome to BIG SCHOOL! Lomas and Sherm teach Robin and Co a lesson on 2nd day of Super Test

Has Surbiton ever seen such excitement?

Two days of nerve-jangling cricket that would have got lace curtains twitching wherever it was played ended in incredible fashion that will live long in the memory.

Against all odds, King’s Road turned an almost inevitable loss into a near win with a Rocky Balboa-style performance against their oldest rivals the Battersea Badgers.

By the end,ย the both sides were left battered and bruised and had to accept a draw – but not before a titanic turnaround saw The Road gunning for glory and the Badgers staring down the barrel of defeat.

How that happened will go down in the annals King’s Road history and is yet another chapter in the story of the South London Ashes rivalry between these two clubs.

After having crumbled to 95 all out in their first innings on Saturday and seen the Badgers bat well before declaring 101 runs ahead, The Road had looked dead and buried on Sunday morning when early wickets fell in their second innings.

First Raju Mazumder went, having added nothing to his overnight score of 2, then nightwatchman Matt Small, who with Raju had bravely battled through five tricky overs the night before, went for 9.

It got worse when Mark Isham, who had kept the first innings together with a vital 30 on Saturday, fell for a duck.

Defence ... Raju fends on off
Defence … Raju fends on off

It was a disasterous start to the day’s play for The Road. Not only did they still have a daunting 85-run deficit to overcome, there were 90 overs left for the Badgers to get the rest of the wickets needed to win.

At this point there was no denying the fact there looked to be no way back as the Orange Caps stared a humiliating defeat in the face.

The evening before the Badgers had confidently declared 101 runs ahead having scored 196 for 8 with all the top five passing 20 and Stuart Barker scoring his maiden 50 before being caught by Amir Alipour in the covers off Jamie Keating.

Solid ... Raju digs in
Solid … Raju digs in

Despite losing 10 wickets for 95 in their first innings, with Richard Dollimore taking 4 for 36 and Robin Mackrell 3 for 7, King’s Road showed some spirit when the Badgers batted.

Smally took 3 for 50 before the declaration came,ย Amir got a wicket as well as the catch that dismissed Barker and there was a wicket each for Keating and Lomas Persad.

King’s Road also pulled off a blinding one-handed take at gully to dismiss Pete Jinks.

But it all seemed in vain as The Road were put in for the final five overs over the day.

Counting down the balls until the end of play, Raju and Smally just about managed to keep out the Badger attack and stay not out overnight.

It was a key psychological point scored but The Road still faced a full day’s play on Sunday in which a near-miracle was needed to avoid being bowled out.

Even if there was some fight left in The Road, the Badgers were sure to have enough to knock off any lead King’s Road could muster.

After stumps, the Badgers were so sure they’d win they even went out for a slap-up celebratory curry and warned spectators on Twitter to get to the ground early on Sunday if they wanted to see any action.

When play started theyย were openly talking about an innings victory and by the time The Road were on 29 for 3, who could blame them?

Looking ominous ... the Badgers celebrate another wicket
Looking ominous … the Badgers celebrate another wicket

But then, slowly, the incredible happened.

With a seemingly impossible mountain to climb Lomas and Dan Sherman set about trying to gain at least some respectability for King’s Road against their greatest rivals.

Awful ... the first innings scorecard
Awful … the first innings scorecard

The pair were up against the Badgers’ much vaunted pace attack of Robin Mackrell and Nick Foord, a duo that have destroyed King’s Road batting line-ups time and time again.

But not this time. Batting well within themselves, Lomas and Sherm blocked and blocked and managed to get The Road through to lunch unscathed.

Still behind, and with memories of the previous day’s batting collapse still fresh in everybody’s minds, Lomas and Sherm dug in well.

Holding fort ... the nightwatchman makes his mark
Holding fort … the nightwatchman makes his mark
Stubborn ... Smally plays forward
Stubborn … Smally plays forward
Disaster ... Smally walks back at the start of the second morning
Disaster … Smally walks back at the start of the second morning

And it got better. After lunch the Badgers, still with plenty of time and runs to play with, tried again.

The pace duo came back on, but simply could not make the breakthrough.

Stubborn in defence, Lomas and Sherm played out six maidens from Robin in a row before beginning to open up against the other bowlers.

Visibly frustrated as runs started to come, Badgers captain Barker tried everything as his side toiled in the field.

Bowler after bowler was put on to try and make the breakthrough, but still Lomas and Dan stood firm. By now, the scoreboard was ticking over nicely.

The drinks break came and went as the King’s Road total passed 100, but still no wicket.

The Badgers were not only going to have to bat again but with every run the danger of them getting in trouble was increasing.

By this time the batting pair had passed 175 together – the all-time King’s Road record partnership.

Soon after, Lomas – who had scored 20 in the first innings – reached his first ever hundred with King’s Road passing 150 in front.

At tea, neither side could believe what was happening – The Road were now firmly in control having broken another record, the club’s previous top total of 275 in all forms of cricket.

King’s Road skip Matt Cocken was left pondering when he should declare to maximise the chances of grabbing a win – something he could never have imagined he’d be doing with one session left to play.

When play resumed, Barker tried shuffling his pack again as Lomas and Sherm strode to pick up the run rate and push the second innings total over 300.

Finally, the breakthrough for the Badgers came when Lomas holed out in the deep having scored a stunning and memorable 119.

Lomas’s knock was only the fourth ton in King’s Road history, and just 9 runs short of the all-time top score held by Tom Barnes.

Fighting hard ... Lomas nears his century
Fighting hard … Lomas nears his century

At the other end a clearly exhausted Sherm was in the 80s and a few balls later he was finally dismissed for 87 after more than three hours at the crease.

Not only had he also hit a career best he faced a club record 190 balls.

Shortly after, Matt put the Badgers out of their misery and declared with the score on 297, 196 ahead.

He's there ... the hero of the day raises his bat
He’s there … the hero of the day raises his bat

What an incredible day it was turning out for the resurgent Road. And what a terrible day it was for the Badgers who, having dominated day one, were forced to spend a gruelling 70 overs in the field.

Never in his wildest dreams could Matt have imagined he would be able to dictate play by setting the Badgers a target they would never make and try and go for the win.

But that was the case – and now the Badgers had 20 overs to score an improbable 197, while The Road had to take 10 wickets to force what would have been an astonishing victory.

Could it happen? It could easily have happened.

Robin and Jan Marchant – sporting his Mongoose blade – started like a train hitting 10 an over for 4 overs before Mackrell was caught in the deep off Smally for 36 off 19 balls.

Nick Foord was run out in aย spectacular direct-hit run-out by Mally for 6 and Marchant was bowled by Rossi for 19. With Alex Morse setting about the bowling on his way to 30, it looked as if the Badgers could keep it up, the target looked under threat.

What a man ... Matt hands Lomas his cap
What a man … Matt hands Lomas his cap

But they couldn’t keep it up. Wickets fell at regular intervals as Jamie picked up a 3-forย and before the Badgers knew it they were under the kosh.

After Jamie dismissed Jinks and Parkinson, it was left to forward defensive specialist Josh Lee to batten down the hatches as the Badgers gave up the ghost and tried to hold out for a draw.

One last chance, a difficult caught and bowled that went down off Small, could have seen The Roadย get into the tail but it was not to be. With time running out Lee and Cloke played out the draw.

After 180 overs over two days King’s Road had salvaged a dire situation and turned it into a position where the Badgers were left sweating as they clung on. What a game of cricket.

The result meant the Badgers retained the South London Ashes crown having triumphed in the 40 over game earlier in the season and seen the Twenty20 match end in a tie on the last ball.

However, the Orange Caps will take great pride from going from looking well and truly out for the count to having their foes on the ropes and ready to throw in the towel.

Eat your heart out, Rocky.

https://twitter.com/Kevinpittaway/status/366660945033957376

Oscar Newlove

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