Drawn Test Lacks Poonch

Posted by Daniel "Maths Hero" Kiley on Tuesday September 18th, 2007 at 12:20am

Backfoot Poonch (Bayne, Izzo, Cornish, Mrowka) drew with Frontfoot Poonch (Finamore, Hoffman, Parham, Kiley)

Post-Match Captains Interview

Stylishly attired Frontfoot Poonch captain Daniel Kiley won the first toss of the season, only to display never before seen levels of indecisiveness, second guessing his own decision to bat first by sending Backfoot Poonch in first.

Backfoot Poonch got onto the front foot early, leaving Frontfoot Poonch on the back foot. Guided by a poonchy 133 from captain Izzo, and 62 by B S Mrowka, Backfoot Poonch poonched their way to 250.

Frontfoot Poonch stepped up to the plate, and a resilient Aidan Parham conservatively batted out the time until lunch, leaving the match poised to go anywhere. But after lunch, Backfoot Poonch regained control of the match, with Frontfoot Poonch never looking to be on the front foot, only avoiding the follow-on by 15 runs. Parham contributed the majority of the side's 165 runs, scoring 61 and a controlled 37 off 74, with disappointing performances with the bat by captain Kiley, and joint Svenson Cricketers of the Year in 2006 James Finamore and Simon Hoffman

With a 85 run lead in hand, and firmly on the front foot, Backfoot Poonch amassed a spirit-crushing 305, featuring a 92 from Mrowka that promised so much, two half centuries from Izzo (53 and 66), a steadying 65 from Cornish in the face of mysterious sledges, and a 23-ball cameo by Bayne which yielded only 2 runs. The redeeming feature of the innings for the Frontfooters was captain Kiley's 7 wicket haul, the first recorded in Svenson history.

Where Backfoot Poonch failed to capitalise on their front foot position was in not leaving themselves enough time to dismiss their Frontfoot counterparts. While Frontfoot Poonch had no chance of reaching the 396 target before the 4pm deadline without some requiring some unprecedented poonching, Backfoot left themselves with little hope of dismissing test match specialist Aidan twice, with a calm 65 not out by the aforementioned Parham leaving Frontfoot Poonch well short of the target, but with Backfoot Poonch unable to poonch the honours.

If Parham were to have been dismissed in the dying stages, the only wickets Frontfoot Poonch had in hand were those of slogger Hoffman and bowler Kiley, which could have lead to an intense finish. But with the Backfooters unable to poonch through for a wicket, it remains a hypothetical.