Scriven sinks Stowe

OCCC 119 for 3 (15.2 overs, J Scriven 71*) beat Stowe Templars 116 for 8 (20 overs, Keeping 49, J Scriven 3-18) by seven wickets
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A blistering unbeaten 42-ball 71 from Jack Scriven spearheaded our seven-wicket win over Stowe Templars in the second round of the Cricketer Cup on Jubilee. Given a forecast of rain from the early afternoon, both captains agreed to play a 20-over match in a bid to get a full game in. It proved a sensible move as within half an hour of the finish it started drizzling and not soon after unrelenting heavy rain arrived.

Stowe won the toss and chose to bat, and Jack Keeping raced out of the blocks, cracking ten off the first over from Will Rollings and 14 off his third, thumping anything pitched up to the boundary. The introduction of our spinners slowed if not checked the onslaught, but crucially while Keeping was scoring with ease, his partner found the going much harder. The innings turned in the eighth over when Keeping was well caught at long-on by Sam Dickson – one of two good catches he held in as many overs – off Jack Scriven. His 49 came off 26 balls but after such a good start – the first wicket put on 63 off 41 deliveries – Stowe’s innings lost momentum.

The next five batsmen managed only nine runs between them as Scriven, Bruno Broughton and Angus Dahl bowled tightly and were well supportive by excellent fielding. From 63 for 0 from 7.45 overs, Stowe slid to 83 for 7 off 15 overs, the pick of the dismissals a superb diving caught-and-bowled by Broughton. Woolridge-Gordon and Strong made some useful runs in the final overs but a score of 116 for 8 was far lower than had seemed likely.

The Scriven brothers got our reply – which started in light rain – off to a good start, Brad hitting straight over the infield to good effect. When he fell leg-before for 26 off 18 balls, Jack, initially subdued, took over with brutal effect; a run-a-ball off the first eight he faced gave way was followed by four successive fours. Although Broughton (3) and Dahl (1) came and went, it mattered little as the runs was haemorrhaging at the other end. Lewis Bedford (10*) provided the perfect foil, rotating the strike, and fittingly Jack finished the game with two savage one-bounce fours.

The third round against the winners of Radley and Oundle will be on Jubilee on Sunday, July 11th.