CRICKET: Perkin ton helps Downs march on

From the Oxford Mail, first published Monday 9th Jul 2007.

Oxford Downs squeezed into the last 16 of the npower Village Cup after a nerve-jangling 34-run victory at Somerset champions Chew Magna.

They looked to be cruising through after Jamie Perkin's superb 128 not out inspired them to 279-4.

But Chew never gave up and came close to pulling off an incredible run chase.

Needing to score at seven an over, they had only reached a paltry 32-2 at the ten-over mark.

Captain Dave Filer, however, launched a counter attack, reaching his 50 off 33 balls, before being caught in the deep by Matt Watts for 63 as the tide swung back Downs' way.

When he and Neil Ogbourne were together, they had reached 185-5 and needed less than nine runs per over for victory.

The drama continued with Paddy Daniel holding an excellent catch to dismiss Ian Locke on the boundary, only to find the square leg umpire had signalled a dead ball.

The umpire had noticed fielders still moving position as Steve Roberts ran in to bowl, and ordered the ball to be re-bowled with no addition to the score.

Downs eventually wrestled back control when Watts bowled Ogbourne for 48 in the 37th over, and that was just about it.

The final act saw Rees Thomas run out going for a second from the same ball that saw Locke dropped at long on!

Downs lacked bowling depth as captain Wes Bartlett conceded 65 off his first five overs, but they had just enough to win through.

Bartlett did, however, recover and conceded just another ten runs off his other two overs.

Fortunately Luke List's tidy spell of 3-23 helped offset a little of the earlier damage.

The visitors looked in control as Perkin smashed 128 not out in 112 balls, hitting eight fours and seven sixes in a monumental knock.

Their second top-scorer was extras with 47, which aided Chew's downfall, although the visitors conceded 32 of their own.

Downs were quickly into their stride after winning the toss with Bartlett and Frankie Crouch setting the platform.

Chew may have had half a chance when they reduced Downs to 63-2, but once Perkin and List got together there was no stopping them.

List (45) had to play second fiddle to the big-hitting Perkin, although he managed a straight six that cleared the sightscreen with ease.

When Downs reached 137-2 at the half-way point there was talk of a 300-plus score.

But some more economical overs from Andy Witcombe and Ian Locke managed to stem the tide slightly.

List was caught in the deep in the 33rd-over, which allowed James Ellwood (17) an impressive cameo.

This included two consecutive sixes off Witcombe before he was bowled.

Perkin had been dropped in the deep on 89, but his largely-composed innings earned the plaudits.

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