VS George Heriot's 20/20

Following a test-match style encounter with the XL Club and a sixes competition, today saw the return to a more conventional school cricket format: 20/20. With overcast skies overhead, and a forecast for sunshine later on during the day, captain John Oliver inserted Heriot's on a challenging surface. Despite oodles of early movement, the openers were unscathed after the first 4 overs from John Oliver (4-1-9-0) and Arman Khan (4-0-15-0) but were kept quiet as they made only 13 runs. However, the introduction of left arm quick Adam McMurray (3-0-14-1) once again provided the early breakthrough, with Heginbottom bagging a regulation catch. In fact, McMurray has fast become the captain's go-to strike bowler, as his returns from Dubai, Merchiston and even today clearly highlight. Soon, the other opener followed, as Jamie Percival (4-0-12-3) picked up the first of his magnificent 3-for with bowling suited to the wicket: flighted, dipping legspinners. His partner in crime - Greg MacMillan (4-1-11-0) was equally incisive, but was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket. The only opposition batsman with a strike rate exceeding 100 was sent back by another brilliant run out from the captain himself, with a sharp direct hit from mid off. In the end, Heriot's mustered just 67/6 from their allotted overs, leaving The Academy with a relatively simple task. Fielding is getting better by the day: Tom Bouttell pouched a diving catch at extra cover off Rick Mukhopadhyay's solitary tidy over (1-0-3-1) and both Oliver and Heginbottom also gained honours in the field. Keeper Fraser Gordon's keeping was once again exemplary, barring a couple of byes due to awkward bounce; he picked up a stumping off the bowling of Jamie Percival and kept everyone on their toes. Nonetheless, no target is indefensible and Heriot's would have backed themselves to challenge TGA's run chase. John Oliver's sweetly timed cover drive off the very first ball of the innings dented the opposition's hopes, and apart from Arman Khan (6(9))'s departure due to a good catch down the legside by the wicketkeeper, and a few close LBW shouts, the game was easily won. Credit is due not only to Oliver's 32 off 27 not out - full of charismatic cover drives, fine flicks of his pads and deft touches - but also Jamie Percival's buoyant 22 off 27 not out. In the end, The Academy won by 9 wickets with 59 balls to spare - figures which represents the players' excellent efforts. Coach Mr Hariharan was once more impressed with the quality performances from the senior members of the team and captain John Oliver was all smile following the victory: "Yeh, I had a feeling the team were going to perform, and after the toss, everything really fell into place. The bowling was brilliant, fielding was fantastic and the chase was comfortable in the end. [On his form with the bat]: Haha, I try not to think about it too much, just try and pierce the gaps in the field and play each ball on its merit. The pitch was difficult but I'm glad we came out on the right side of the result."Read more