They say lightening never strikes twice in the same place. This is of course nonsense.
My Uncle Glenn was struck 4 times during the great storm of 1987 as he attempted to clear leaves out of his guttering with a metal curtain pole. It wouldn't have been so bad of course had he not been at the front of an impromptu family conga. When the police finally arrived my socially-challenged relatives were fused together like a man-sized Curlywurly.
And it was deja vu all over again last night as UCLES*, chasing Molecular Biology's 111 for 4, imploded in the middle order like an overcooked soufflé and threatened to repeat the startling disaster of last week's failure chasing just 93. Surely it wouldn't happen again.
Bowling first amidst the mighty fields of Kings and Selwyn and beneath a leaden yet impotent sky, UCLES* made a solid start with Siyambalapitiya forcing the openers to defend their stumps whilst Ordish forced them to defend their heads. Siyambalapitiya's brief spell was however brought to a swift end by one punishing over - most notably the full toss that was hit so far the ball was brought back by a seagull.
Siyambalapitiya was replaced by Costello who proceeded to bowl two successive maidens as Molecular Biology managed just one run from three overs. Ordish finished his spell having only conceded 16 runs. As so often this season, he was very difficult to handle when the radar was chirping nicely. Skipper James replaced Ordish whilst Costello struck the first blow, the dangerous looking opener trapped lbw. As Molecular Biology became increasingly aware that 4-an-over wouldn't be enough they began to take risks and UCLES* took advantage to affect two run-outs, one achieved by a typically mighty throw from the deep by Visage, whilst the other stemmed from a perhaps slightly desperate attempt to take a single to a wicket keeper standing up to the stumps.
With Bean continuing Costello's good work and Skipper James dropping the ball on a sixpence, UCLES tightened the screw in the final overs. Skipper James finally picked-up a deserved wicket with the worst ball of the day - West taking a catch after the batsmen had attempted to hit a long-hop into Addenbrookes car park. With a slight lack of ambition, both with the bat and running between the wickets, Molecular Biology's final total of 111 for 4 looked like a missed opportunity on a decent batting track, but credit must go to a second successive strong performance from UCLES* in the field.
With Skipper James nursing a nasty impact injury to his right hand sustained whilst fielding, Siyambalapitiya joined Linsdell to open the batting. The new pair started reasonably well against an unusual pace and spin combination moving past the 20-mark inside four overs. Siyambalapitiya's run-a-ball 10 was then brought to an end by a loopy full toss. Siyambalapitiya stared menacingly at the umpire before walking after he was informed that you couldn't call a no-ball against a beamer that had hit middle stump.
Linsdell's new partner didn't hang around long - Monk skying his 4th ball and falling for 2. Monk's replacement was Bean, whose previous batting performances had yielded 0 runs from 4 balls in 3 innings. With such form behind him it was perhaps surprising to see him begin so strongly with a series of lusty strokes. With the run-rate consistently above 5-an-over, Linsdell and Bean began to chase down the total, relying on some powerful hits, strong running and a fair bit of good fortune. By the 10th over the required rate had fallen below the innings rate and the pair were progressing steadily against a solid if uninspiring attack. Putting fielders under pressure at every opportunity, the UCLES* batsmen were gradually taking the game away from their hosts. When Linsdell finally fell in the 15th over, UCLES* were just a couple of dozen short of victory.
With victory well within grasp the good ship UCLES* began to take water as first Bean, then Visage and West all fell in quick succession leaving UCLES a precarious 95-6, still 17 runs short of victory. The highlight of this frantic period had doubtlessly been the sight of Monk running for Visage who was nursing a bizarre squat-thrust based injury.
This flurry of wickets brought Costello and Skipper James together at the crease (despite the latter brandishing a hand swollen like a comically inflated surgical glove) amidst an ever expanding sense of tension spreading through the side - born of course out of last week's desperate failure. "Deja vu sir? We've got lumps of it round the back"
However, with the groundsman going through pages 18-41 of the Kama Sutra with a cat so large there were Zebra bones on the outfield, the two seasoned pros took that vital bit of control and guided UCLES* home with 4 wickets and 2 overs to spare. Indeed, there was even time for the experienced pair to run three although admittedly the ball went so far from the pitch that Thora Hird would have been turning for 4 on her stair lift.
