On an extremely hot day and with a grassy wicket in prospect, the Valley of Peace elected to field after winning the toss against the Christchurch Police XI. Joe Edgerton Till bowled well in his 4 opening overs to regularly beat the bat with pace and movement. Geoff Olsen also bowled tightly but neither of them gained any early reward. The Police eleven paced their innings well and gutsed out the opening stanza in a determined manner.
With the temperature rising and a much-needed drink, the Valley was well placed having restricted the Police to 80 off 25 and 4 wickets in the bag.
After drinks, however, things changed dramatically in favour of our opponents. Several key partnerships and a strong innings by Richard Ryan (55) lifted the score to 229 after 50. Some big hitting was hard to kerb and most of the bowlers were taken to at times. Andrew Levenger bowled well in the closing stages with 8 on the trot as did Russell Drake who was on a hat trick at one stage. Rupert Davison (a newcomer) also bowled 8 on the go during the heat with a couple of wickets.
After lunch and the pitch baked to perfection, the Valley commenced the chase. With Paddy Sullivan bowling at near 130 clicks and ably backed up, the Valley struggled to gain any ascendancy. Regular wickets fell with another newcomer Rupert Bool opening but sadly running himself out in the twenties. The middle and lower order showed some resistance with Rupert Davison smashing 26 in a defiant manner. However, the ask was too big and the Valley were dismissed for just 110. A heavy defeat to a very strong Police side.
A positive was the ground fielding (from both sides), particularly the agility of the oldies like Bert Walker doing their very best. We’ll have to wait for next year though and a strong side will need to be fielded as the Police side is very keen on this fixture!
Russell Drake
Valley Captain of the day
