9 May 2009, Lindow CC 1st XI vs. Bunbury (a)
M.Parr of the Runs
Lindow 214 for 6 dec, Bunbury 201 for 9
Lindow (17pts) drew with Bunbury (10)
Lindow’s visit to Bunbury was a slow burner that turned into an exciting brawl of a game that could have gone either way before Lindow eventually came out with the better of a tight draw.
Bunbury put Lindow into bat and the visitors struggled along for 30 overs or so, subsiding to 85 for 6 despite an enterprising 30 from opener Huq and a patient 27 from Slinn. The wicket was good but the home bowling kept things tight with good disciplines and well-set fields. But forget what went before, this game really got started when Mike Parr walked to the wicket to join Adi Konda with Lindow hoping against hope to scramble to 140 or so. But Parr struck the ball beautifully from the start and, with Konda intelligently rotating the strike, the field quickly spread, the bowling became ragged and the scoring rate soared. Parr struck several enormous sixes and found the gaps regularly even in a thickly patrolled boundary on his way to an imperious unbeaten 78. Konda nudged his idiosyncratic way to 45 not out as the pair raced to a new record 7th wicket stand for Lindow of 129, posting a final total of 214 and walking off together to the rapturous applause of their team mates.
Bunbury’s innings followed a similar pattern of early slow scoring in the face of a hostile spell from Matt Bradshaw and the craft of Homy Masud. The home side did better at keeping wickets in hand, though, and in the middle overs upped the scoring rate on the back of left handed opener Taylor's positive play and in the face of some indifferent change bowling from Lindow. In truth it was a bit of a one man show as Taylor went to a fine hundred (having been dropped in the 3rd over at slip) and threatened to take the game away from the visitors. But gradually wickets started to fall at the other end, starting with a first Lindow wicket for Adi Konda, and Henry Grover and Matt Bradshaw put some pressure back on the batsmen, until Taylor was finally bowled by a quick full toss from Bradshaw for 116. Bunbury pressed on for a few more overs but ended up clinging on for the draw in a tense last over, denying Matt Bradshaw a third wicket The turning point was a fine catch on the long on fence by Konda to dismiss McBennett for 22 and extinguish any prospect of the home win. Henry Grover also took 2 wickets and Homy Masud 3, with a run out from keeper by Parr completing the tally for the day.
