Big six seals last over win at Girton after a thrilling chase

The Woozlers 182-7 dec (Chak 3-21, Short 2-35)

Jesters CC 187-6 (Sachin Rawson 53, Doward 33*, Griffiths 33)

Won by 4 wickets

It was a picture perfect Cambridge afternoon for the second game of the weekend at Girton College. The wicket looked as flat as the the pancake Sachin had fallen asleep over at the breakfast table, so it was hugely disappointing that the skipper lost the toss for the second day in a row and we were forced into the field.

Matt Griffiths and Evie Miller took the new ball, with Matt again passing the outside edge frequently without reward as he had the previous day at Jesus College. Their ex-Grade cricketer from down under looked unruffled though as The Woozlers reached 50 without loss.

It was the change bowlers Dheeraj and DJ Chak who dragged us back into the game, with DJ producing one of his famous spells to blow away the middle order with consecutive lbws and a ripper that castled Woozlers skipper Sam Grimshaw. We also received a helping hand from the opposition as Norbury (said Aussie) was dubiously given run out for 49 by a teammate! At 124-6, it looked like we might be in the beer garden early.

However, former Blue Ed Hyde (56*) steadied the ship, showing caution at first before upping the scoring alongside the tail, allowing Sam to declare at 182-7 off 37 overs.

The Jesters skipper packed the top order with power hitters to get us off to the fast start we needed, but that plan backfired as we slumped to 27-3 off eight overs.

Fortunately, a measured partnership of 93 between Sachin Rawson and Griffiths (33) restored hope but 120-3 swiftly became 128-6 after another wobble. When Hyde spectacularly stumped Sachin down the leg side off their returning opening bowler for 53, we looked in big trouble.

Enter the engine room. Experienced finishers Ollie Doward (33*) and DJ Chak (27*) duly pressed the reset button, taking risk-free ones and twos before upping the run rate. 17 runs were needed off the last two overs of the final hour and Ollie secured a thrilling win off the penultimate ball of the match, picking up Grimshaw over square leg for a massive six that crashed satisfyingly into the top of the perimeter fence protecting the Girton Road. Their unbeaten partnership of 59 saw us home in 33.5 overs.

So, an unbeaten Cambridge weekend and some wonderful hospitality from both Jesus College and Girton College. Thanks to everyone who turned out and stayed over to make this another memorable trip to the Fens.

Jesters XII: Doward (c), Dheeraj, Douie, Warnes (wk), Griffiths, Sachin Rawson, Standley, Chak, A Smith, Simon Rawson, Miller, Short (non-batting)