The Finnish Tour. Day Four.

So, we came into the final day needing to take seven more wickets, and then score whatever target they had set us.

The Tom/Frangelita combination was again successful (I can’t describe Fran’s athletic display, you had to be there to see it) as their opening batsman (who was on 98 by this time) fell: 167-4.

I managed to bowl their next batsman: 183-5.

Realdoc achieved an LBW: 260-6.

At this point, snow stopped play for 38 minutes, and we took an early lunch (Lincolnshire sausage [my favourite] sandwiches, supplied by one of our travelling spectators).

Frangelita may have eaten too many sandwiches, for (amazingly) she dropped a catch off Phil’s bowling straight after lunch.

Fortunately, Richard managed to do his job, taking a clean catch off my leg-spin ball: 290-7

Two overs later I took the new ball, and achieved an edge to Jona in the slips: 309-8

Realdoc’s googly clean-bowled a bamboozled batsman: 311-9.

With her next ball, she finished their innings, a catch being held by Medusa in the slips; 311-10.

We needed, therefore, to score 197, in the 28 minutes before tea, and then the final session of the day. Not impossible, but we would need to score quickly. Richard said he was tired, so I juggled the order a bit, to give us a chance at a slog, but with a respectable tail, should we collapse and need to play for a draw.

Vicus was bowled early on in our reply: 21-1.

Tea came when the score had reached 36-1. Pammy’s flight arrived from the USA just in time for her to join us at this point. She and Tom went for quick word of encouragement behind the changing rooms, before he went out to bat.

Still needing 163 to win, I instructed our players to be as aggressive as they liked in the final session.

Jona was out LBW as the score reached 64-2.

Tom was scoring very freely, so I fed him the strike as much as possible, before edging a catch to the slips: 113-3.

Sadly, Carol was bowled first ball; 113-4.

Tom was caught going for a big shot: 127-5.

71 runs needed to win, and just 59 minutes left on the clock.

I told Phil that he would have to abandon his normal elegant style, and go for a slog, which he did with gusto, putting all his weight behind the bat. Strangely, he wasn’t out immediately, Medusa’s being the next wicket to fall, caught in the slips: 144-6.

Realdoc was out in the same way: 159-7.

39 runs needed to win, three wickets in hand, and just 15 minutes left in which to win, lose or draw the match (and all three results still possible).

Phil was finally bowled, trying to hit a six: 186-8.

12 to win. Five minutes and just 2 wickets left.

When Richard was bowled with the score still on 188-9, you could cut the atmosphere in the ground with a knife (yes, freezing fog had descended).

We needed just 10 runs to win the match, but had only two minutes in which to score them, before the match was scheduled to end – but all they needed to do was to claim our last wicket, and they would win.

At this moment, Cherrypie decided it would be a good idea to streak across the pitch. Had she done so, our time would have gone, and the match would have ended in a draw.

I had a split second to decide – let her, or allow the game to reach a natural conclusion.

Cliff hanger on top of cliff-hanger.

Of course, I did the gentlemanly thing…

…I hit her on the head with an empty vodka bottle that happened to be lying there.

At that very moment, on the pitch, the final over started, with two balls which Frangelita could only block. However, the third ball was cut perfectly for four. She edged the next ball, and she and Ivy ran a quick two. Two balls left in the entire match, and four runs still needed. The bowler runs in…

…and young Fran drives it cleanly back, all the way to the boundary.

We win!!

Hurrah for us!!!