Bagging what was to be Falkland CC’s only win of the day, also proved to be one of the most thrilling ends to a match that both teams and spectators had ever witnessed.

Purley CC was the setting, and thanks to the recent upturn in summer weather, it looked to be a great batting deck, with a quick outfield, and a high scoring game seemed likely. Losing his 11th toss in a row, skipper Bloodworth was informed by his Purley counterpart that his team would once again be batting first.

Falkland’s usually strong batting line up was troubled by good bowling, and was saved by the efforts of Ted Brown (63) and Prakrit Bhagat (64) with the only other notable contribution coming from George Hawkins (26) whose return to fitness on his 23rd birthday proved to be impeccably timed, and Falkland broke the 200 barrier for the first time this year, posting what they felt was a 30-40ish run below par total of 203.

With the conditions largely unchanged for Purley, except for some cracks beginning to appear on the wicket, they made it apparent that they considered the total to be well within their grasp and set about wrapping the game up quickly. Falkland’s first breakthrough came with 33 on the board, when Falkland’s swing king Aaron Graham (3-40-7) struck, and from that point the pendulum swang between the 2 teams regularly. Gritty batting was balanced by aggressive bowling, as George Hawkins (3-36-9) and Theo Smith (3-27-7) got to work, with Smith taking his 3rd and perhaps most admirable caught and bowled of the season to the rapture of his team mates. Nevertheless, 30 overs in at the final drinks break of the day, Purley, at 162-6 still looked likely favourites, but the final session, nail biting to say the least, saw Falkland hold their nerve, and reduce the hosts to 177-9. With 27 runs required for the hosts, the momentum was again with the visitors, but clever strike rotations, and capitalising on the odd bad ball, Purley began to claw their way towards a win. The final over saw Purley requiring 7 runs. Seamer Ted Brown was the bowler. 3 dot balls later and Falkland were on the brink. A loose ball going for 4 left Purley requiring 3 from the remaining 2 balls. Then, to gasps from around the ground, Brown, usually very composed, felt the gravitas of the situation and bowled a wide ball. 2 required from 2 balls. Then a dot. Now in this situation for a batter, it’s generally a case of whatever happens on that final ball you run, and hope that the opposing side will be rushed into a misfield, which is often the outcome, but Brown denied Purley that opportunity, trapping Purley’s batter LBW, taking the final wicket and sealing the win in a game that all will remember for a long time to come.

3 wins from 3 now for Falkland’s 3rd XI and they hang on to 5th place in the league, with back to back home fixtures ahead of them. Next week league leaders Aldershot CC will be visiting our Wilson Carlisle Ground, and whilst their form has been outstanding this season to date, our 3’s will be full of confidence and based on yesterday’s performance, believe that anything is possible.