Halverstown Oaks: 171 for 8 off 30 overs
Batting: G. Bayer 31* P. Rosa 30* A. Williamson 30* S. Hayes 30*
Bowling: N. O’Reilly 2-0-13-1 B. McAllister 4-0-17-1 S. Hayes 3-0-20-1
RTE: 150 for 6 off 30 overs
Batting: P. Soutter 30* S. Jhain 30* D. Banerjee 28
Bowling: A. Ellison 4-0-10-2 R. McMenamin 2-0-11-1 D. Cullen 4-0-10-0
Early October cricket has become something of a commonplace occurrence in recent years as a way of dealing with Covid-impacted seasons, and satisfying everyone’s desire to keep playing for as long as possible.
It was in that spirit that the Oaks welcomed RTE to Brannockstown, hoping to avenge a heavy defeat in 2020 and bring some well-deserved positivity into the winter.
Debut skipper Brian McAllister loaded the middle order with big hitters, and overs 11-20 saw the Oaks amass 74 runs, Gunter Bayer and Paolo Rosa locked in a race to get to 30 the quickest (Paolo won by one ball, 16 v 17). They were joined on an unbeaten 30 by opener Andy Williamson and Vice-Captain Stuart Hayes. A joke doing the rounds was that regular captain Des wouldn’t believe the scorebook when he saw that the Oaks batting line up held up that well, with four players retiring unbeaten, and setting a good target of 171 off 30 overs, a fraction shy of a run a ball.
The rain that had intermittently interrupted Halverstown’s innings had passed by the time RTE took to the crease. The Oaks fielding and bowling have been tight this year, and that continued into the last game – ably joined by a succession of guest fielders from the national broadcaster.
Although RTE batted well, and three batsmen collectively scored 88 runs, solid fielding, and economical bowling by all 9 Oaks bowlers meant reaching the target always looked slightly out of reach, and ultimately RTE fell 21 runs short, reaching 150 at the close. (And yes, Niall O’Reilly took his trademark wicket via stumping as always).
As the sun set, and the credits rolled on the 2021 Oaks season, it was Halverstown’s name in lights, levelling the ongoing series with RTE 1-1, and setting it up nicely for the renewal in 2022.
Written by Gerard O'Shea