Karori Wildcats 148/8, B Bradley 51 (43), T Buchan 19 (16)
Karori Stonecutters 107/10, T Buchan 2-9, Henk du Toit 2-24
A not so long time ago, last Saturday, at a cricket pitch not so far away from home, in Karori. The Rebel Wildcats were entrenched in a civil war with the Imperial Stonecutters for control of “The Sphinx”. Losing the toss resulted in the Wildcats being forced into bat on wicket as green and moist as Dagobah.
With ball hooping as wild as a storm trooper’s aim, the Wildcats were uncharacteristically forced into hiding at below 6 an over but somehow managed to keep casualties to a minimum. The Rebellion, led by the heroic Blair Skywalker (51 off 43), built a strong platform to strike back from. Valuable air support came and went with Henk Solo blasting his first delivery over the fence and out of the attack. With boundaries hard to come by (11 in the innings), Tom Bubaca (19 off 16) showed his light-speed between the wicket, turning the ones into twos and making a tidy contribution. Nando Calrissian and Bobby Fett combined forces for an unbeaten 9th wicket partnership of 27 taking the total to 148. Par score for the Rebel Wildcats as they headed to the forest floor of Endor to field.
The Imperial Stonecutters went on the offensive sending out their secret weapon, Jurgs Vader, with a bat capable of destroying entire bowling line ups. He sent a message first over, obliterating the ball into orbit. Bobby Fett learnt his lesson and forced Jurgs to fetch a wide one, sending it straight up and into the clutches of Henk Solo. Jurgs – this wasn’t the ball you were looking for.
Tom Bubaca (2-9) set the explosive charges to rip through the top order defense and bring a new hope. Rupert used both Jedi mind-control and ball-control to dampen Imperial spirits. Keaton (1-14) came into the attack and was bowling faster than the millennium falcon. He set his own field to pick up a well deserved caught behind. The batter had no idea “it’s a trap”.
The Rebellion was tight in the field sabotaging potential twos and boundaries all day. With the run rate sky-walketing the pressure was well and truly on. Welcome to the crease Jar Jar Osborne for the Stonecutters. It’s unsure whether he was just clumsy or suicidal. Gifting several run outs and a couple extra chances, it’s no wonder he was banished. Blair Skywalker returned from his time in Dagobah and finished off the Stonecutters with one ball.
The Stonecutters were defeated by 40 runs. Freedom restored to the galaxy and “The Sphinx” returned to the Wildcat Rebellion. Chahooo!