Redruth 182-9 (50) tied with St Just 182-8 (50)
Ellis Whiteford played a key role as Redruth and St Just recorded a rare tie in their Cornwall Cricket League Premier Division match on Saturday, writes Matt Friday.
Neil Curnow hit 50 as St Just managed 182-8 in the first innings at the TimbaBuild Park, with Whiteford taking four wickets for the hosts.
Jack Hale top-scored with 42 in the reply, but with the hosts needing ten off the final over to tie, it was eighth batsman Whiteford (13*) who reeled those off in the final four balls to rescue the tie.
The tie leaves Redruth and St Just, as they were at the start of the day, in sixth and seventh respectively, with Camborne and St Austell now well within their sights.
St Just won the toss and opted to bat, with openers Neil Curnow (50) and Ben Stevens (35) hitting the ground running with an excellent partnership of 79 until the latter was caught by Craig Johnson off Andrew Stolzenburg in the 24th over.
The visiting batsmen were clearly in the mood with Dominic Angove (23) continuing alongside Curnow and then Philip Nicholas (29) as St Just thundered past the century mark and made a beeline for 150.
But Angove’s stumping by Peter Howells off Piran Kent’s (1-39) ball preceded a devastating middle-order collapse as Whiteford ran riot, with Jacob Harvey (0), Steve Kevern (3), Max Waller (0), Chamikara Edirisinghe (0) and Nicholas all falling as the visitors limped from 142-3 to 152-8 in little over six overs.
Facing the tough task of steadying the heavily listing St Just ship, ninth and tenth batsmen Mark George (21*) and Michael Fitchett (11*) did just that and put on an unbroken 30 for the final five overs to nudge their side to a useful 182-8.
Rohan Wight racked up 22 runs before becoming the first to fall in Redruth’s response, with Toby Whiteford managing five before Wight’s fellow opener Karl Leathley was dismissed for an lbw after making 38.
Hale came in and, after skipper Peter Howells had gone for six, went on to bring up the ton alongside Lloyd Brock (30), with the duo reaching 135 when the former was bowled by Waller (2-24) for the second of his two wickets.
Brock was next to go when he was caught by Fitchett of Nicholas’ ball, with the bowler then removing Kent for seven in the very next ball as the hosts’ innings began to go south. Fitchett bookended the 48th over with the respective wickets of Joseph Cockings (4) and Stolzenburg (5) – both caught by Steve Kevern – to leave the hosts at 164-9 with two overs remaining.
Knowing they had to find 18 runs to salvage a tie, Johnson (5*) and Ellis Whiteford (13*) knocked off the first eight in the 49th over, with Johnson recording a dot ball and a single at the start of the 50th to leave Redruth nine runs shy with four balls remaining.
It was now down to Whiteford, who knocked off two before finding the boundary to leave the hosts three away from the tie with two balls to do. Whiteford added another two to take it to the final ball, with Whiteford knocking Fitchett’s delivery for a single to rescue the tie right at the death.
Fall of wickets
St Just: 1-79 (Ben Stevens, 23.3 ov), 2-97 (Neil Curnow, 27.1 ov), 3-142 (Dominic Angove, 38.5 ov), 4-143 (Jacob Harvey, 39.6 ov), 5-147 (Steve Kevern, 41.3 ov), 6-147 (Max Waller, 41.4 ov), 7-148 (Chamikara Edirisinghe, 42.6 ov), 8-152 (Philip Nicholas, 45.2 ov)
Redruth: 39-1 Rohan Wight (Karl Leathley-16*); 57-2 Toby Whiteford (Karl Leathley-29*); 71-3 Karl Leathley (Jack Hale-4*); 98-4 Peter Howells (Jack Hale-25*); 139-5 Jack Hale (Lloyd Brock-23*); 154-6 Lloyd Brock (Piran Kent-7*); 154-7 Piran Kent (Ellis Whiteford-0*); 158-8 Joseph Cockings (Ellis Whiteford-0*); 164-9 Andrew Stolzenburg (Ellis Whiteford-0*)
[Featured image: Colin Bradbury / Cornwall Sports Media]