As run chases go, Saturday’s triumph by our first eleven over title rivals Instonians in the Mercury Premier League at Shaw’s Bridge will take some beating in the annals of our club history.
The home side had piled up a huge 316 for eight batting first, with Cade Carmichael making a brilliant hundred and Andrew White and Shane Dadswell contributing half-centuries.
But Waringstown actually ended the 50 overs reasonably content, because with 10 overs to go the home side had looked poised for a score of around 350.
Tom Mayes and Steve Stolk shared five wickets, while James Cameron-Dow’s dismissal of Carmichael arguably changed the course of the day.
But nothing could have prepared the crowd for what happened next as Steve Stolk launched a scarcely believable assault on the Instonians bowling attack.
The young South African professional was in blistering form, launching anything remotely too full over the short straight boundaries as he raced to his half century off just 20 balls, including five sixes and three fours.
Adam Dennison at the other end played a clever role, giving Stolk the strike and the visitors’ hundred came up in the 10th over as Stolk launched Dadswell for successive sixes and a four.
Stolk’s hundred took just 41 balls and was his best yet for the club, coming in a potentially difficult run chase against high quality opposition.
He eventually fell in the 16th over attempting a big hit off White after smashing 132 from 55 balls, including a remarkable 15 sixes and six fours. The opening partnership with Dennison had been a stunning 169 in 15.2 overs.
The fireworks didn’t end there, with Morgan Topping later launching eight fours and six sixes in a quickfire 83 from only 53 balls and Graham Hume making an unbeaten 38 from just 26 deliveries. Remarkably, victory by six wickets was achieved with just over 15 overs to spare.
The result keeps Waringstown top of the Premier League table.