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Posted:
Sunday 1st August 2010
Source: Stephen Birley
Before the meeting
with Budleigh Salterton at Kensham Park the home faithful
prepared to welcome back to the club former skipper Joel Murphy,
an Australian who had done so much to elevate the club to the
top flight of Devon County Cricket during six successful years.
However, certainly at the tea interval, the Bradninch
followers were lauding another Aussie, Haydn Murray. Murray was
finally dismissed for 116, caught by Bob Dawson off Azam in the
final over of the innings. His knock lasted sixteen minutes
short of three hours, came off 124 deliveries, and included
sixteen 4s.
The Brisbane based batsman, whose family emigrated to
Australia after he had been raised in South Africa, came to the
wicket at the fall of the first wicket. Tim Piper’s departure,
caught by Pakistani Under-19 international Hammad Azam - off the
bowling of new Budleigh skipper Ian Bishop - for eight with the
score on 14 after eight overs.
Murray then saw the remainder of the home innings out until
the last few deliveries and received wonderful applause from the
healthy crowd as he walked back to the pavilion.
His century came up off 118 deliveries in 135 minutes and
included fourteen 4s. Murray lost partners Eliot Acton (26) at
64-2, skipper Ross Acton (11) at 89-3, Dan Hardy (trapped leg
before off the second ball he faced for a duck) at 791-4 and
Gary Chappell (10) at 119-5.
With half the side back in the hutch and just 119 on the
digital scoreboard it made for pretty tough reading for the home
faithful but that was without thinking what Haydn and the
incoming teenager Joe Webb, could produce.
The pair settled the innings down and ultimately took it to
the stage where it was seemingly beyond the visitors, and in
terms of the season and Premier Table positions, the Murray and
Webb partnership effectively sealed the Bradninch top flight
status for at least another season.
Murray’s wagon wheel of shots was simply symmetrical,
underlining how good an innings it was as he dissected the field
almost at will. He was helped along the way, dropped by the
visiting glovesman before he had reached a half-century and he
and Webb were helped in their collective accumulation of runs by
some pretty abject Budleigh out-fielding which resulted in a
number of needless overthrows and additional runs being
plundered.
Murray and Webb reached one hundred between them at less than
a run-a-ball, needing just 92 deliveries to rack up their
century partnership.
Young Webb played his part in the proceedings as he and his
senior partner simply took apart a Budleigh attack which was
shorn of James Burke who had pitched up at Kensham Park with his
Ottermouth teammates but received a 12th hour call from the
County ground, Somerset, that he was needed for Cidermen duties
and so Budleigh started the game with ten men in the field, a
situation soon rectified with the summoning of a player from the
Budleigh second string.
Webb like Murray was finally out in the final over. He too
fell to Azam when looking to smash another one to the boundary
to bring up his half century. Webb hit 45 from 46 deliveries in
a 58 minute stay at the crease.
Incredibly the sixth wicket partnership took up those 58
minutes and saw the pair face 16.3 overs. Both batsmen were
dismissed in successive balls with Billy Wakeley and Chris Acton
both not out without scoring at the close, Wakeley without
facing a delivery and Acton having faced just two and the
innings closed on 231-7.
The Budleigh reply was launched, in some style too by Bob
Dawson who raced to a half century whilst at the other end,
make-shift opener Neil Murrin stuck around for 46 minutes for
his eight, but he did help Dawson out on 50 for the first wicket
before he fell to a smart caught and bowled from Paul Nott.
This brought Budleigh skipper Ian Bishop to the middle and he
and Dawson began to score at a brisk rate with only Gary
Chappell being able to stem the flow of runs. Dawson had made
his way smoothly to 82 off 103 deliveries when he chanced his
arm once too often to Dan Hardy and when the ball dropped out of
the Bradninch sky, who else was under it? But man-of-the-moment
Haydn Murray to take the catch and bring the hosts back into the
contest.
This brought Pakistani Under-19 international Hammad Azam to
the crease to join Bishop, appointed skipper of the Ottermouth
side in place of Sandy Allen who’s change of jobs left him
unable to commit to the team on a regular basis.
Ross Acton brought himself back into the attack after a
wicket-less first spell and with the help of the safe hands of
cousin Eliot Acton, saw to the end of Bishop’s bright innings.
The visiting skipper departing for a 72 ball knock of 48 and
with two new batsmen at the crease, in Azam and Rob Newman, the
outcome was back in the balance with all manner of endings still
possible.
Acton then removed Newman for five in his very next over and,
at 167-4 with Budleigh still 68 runs shy and with 75 balls
remaining; it was very much ‘game on’. Joel Murphy then came in,
scored ten before he fell to a catch by Gary Chappell off
skipper Acton and, at 194-5 with four overs and one ball
remaining, the visitors still required 38 runs to win.
Sixteen runs came from the next thirteen deliveries to tip
the balance in favour of the hosts, however, with wickets in
hand, and Azam still there, Budleigh also retained victory
hopes.
At the start of the penultimate over bowled by Gary Chappell,
Budleigh still required 21 runs to win. Azam smashed successive
sixes off the first two deliveries of that 48th over and
suddenly the game was heading very much the way of the visitors,
and so it was to be as they sealed a five wicket win off the
first ball of the final over of the contest.
Azam finished unbeaten on 51 from 45 deliveries and Chappell,
who at one stage sent down six overs for just seven runs, ended
with figures of 0-63 from 14 overs. Skipper Acton was the main
wicket taker with 3-52 from 11.1 overs and the other wicket
takers were Paul Nott (1-31) and Dan Hardy (1-40).
Post match it was announced from the Budleigh camp that Azam,
together with his fellow country man Hasan (he claimed six
wickets as the 2nd XI were beaten at Ottermouth by Budleigh II)
are both to play just one more game for the club before joining
the Pakistani A squad for their forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka.
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