After two disappointing defeats, including against today’s Regional Cup Quarter Final opponents, we faced a game which mattered a great deal as it would determine whether we would achieve the rare feat of reaching Regional Finals Day. Under this pressure we responded with our most complete all-around performance of the year to date, showing that when it counts this is a side possessing both grit and quality, though it may not have looked that way for the first five overs…

After winning the toss we elected to field, but things started to go wrong almost immediately as Protherough dropped a straightforward chance off the third ball. A downpayment on the cost of this was made instantly, with the next ball being dispatched over the short boundary for six and the following one for four. The reprieved batsman, Khan, would go on to hit 56 from 32 balls, including six sixes. Repton powered though the first five overs, bringing up their half century in 29 balls and there appeared a real danger of Saturday’s result repeating itself. At the weekend we had no response to Repton’s powerful strokeplay and we wilted, here the response was different. With seam having proven ineffective we turned to spin, and it achieved instant results, with the dismissal of the other opener (who had scored 58 at the weekend) by Protherough, paying the first instalment on the debt for his drop by inducing a rash lofted drive. This was but the first act of the drama which was to follow as Protherough and Gupta then proceeded to ensure that a wicket would fall in each over from 8-15 as Repton collapsed spectacularly in the face of their accuracy and guile. Protherough was lucky in his second over as Khan tried to heave a full toss away on the leg side. Had Protherough been bowling to the short side it would have cleared the ropes by 20 yards, but on the long boundary it nestled safely into the hands of Larucci. Both set batsmen were gone, but Repton still looked strongly placed on 71-2 in the 8th over. Gupta, flighting the ball more, where Protherough was darting the ball into the pitch, drew the number three into a lofted drive which was well taken by Shannon running backwards. Protherough then cleaned up the number five comprehensively in the 10th over, with the number six lobbing a gentle catch to Walmsley in the covers off Gupta, leaving Repton 81-5 after 11. They may have hoped for some recovery at this point as the new batsman was actually their opener, who had withdrawn to the middle order as a result of some ill-timed indigestion, but Protherough would not be denied a fourth wicket which he took in similar style to Gupta’s last. He ended with excellent figures of 4-1-12-4, but Gupta continued the run of wickets as he bowled the would-be-opener for two in the 13th over. Walmsley (3-0-9-1), finding himself in the unusual position of the third-choice spinner, decided that even coming late to the party he would not leave all of the fun to the others, and managed to strike an edge through to McGrory with his fifth ball. Gupta finished as strongly as Protherough, bowling the number ten who was unwise to go back to a good length ball. He finished with 4-0-13-4. After this remarkable run of overs Repton had capitulated from 56-0 and 71-1 to 90-9. A brief rally from the final pair added 13 runs before Askin (3.4-0-24-1) prevented all of the wickets from going to the spinners with a clever short ball which the number nine was not good enough to control: Budd taking the catch.

The first half of the game had been magnificent. After being put under supreme pressure by powerful hitting at the onset of the innings we had stayed sharp in the field and bowled to our plans, taking control of the match. Yet we knew that the job was only half done and on a pitch that had something in it for the bowlers, especially the spinners, we needed batting of calm control and good sense. McGrory and Larucci provided exactly the tonic we required and in the right dose. Knowing the required run rate was only a shade over five, they didn’t have to go out hard, they needed to focus on rotating the strike, punishing the bad balls and grinding the opposition down so that they lost hope of victory. An opening stand of 71 settled any remaining nerves we had as they played with composure and maturity and you could see Repton’s morale sink as the scoreboard ticked remorselessly upwards. It was a genuine surprise when McGrory holed out trying to clear the short boundary, but his 36 from 27 balls had set the foundation for a near certain victory. Having seen McGrory’s mode of dismissal Askin’s exact repetition of the shot (same bowler, same ball, same shot, same fieldsman, same result!) was not his finest moment and he walked back to Repton’s beautiful thatched pavilion for 4, but Gupta (12*) was able to knock the ball around comfortably in accompaniment to Larucci (37*) who completed the victory with a flourish by hitting the penultimate ball of the 15th over beyond the boundary and the grass bank and into the car park beyond. A magnificent performance and the Regional Finals Day at Shrewsbury now awaits us!

Man-of-the-Match: shared between our spin twins of Gupta: 4-13 (and 12*) and Protherough:4-12.

Champagne Moment: Not a ‘moment’ in the strictest sense, but Protherough’s recovery from his dropped catch to bowl the spell of his season (if not his time at Warwick) takes the prize.

Well done to all of the boys!