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Super Mario sees Trojans home in local derby
Mike Vimpany - 20 May 2001
Half-century hero Mario Mohammed shelved his normal flamboyant Caribbean style of batting for the day to haul Trojans out of the mire and set up a four-wicket win over arch Southern Electric Premier League rivals Old Tauntonians & Romsey at Stoneham Lane.
Defending a modest 100-run total, OTs eyed an improbable victory with Trojans reeling at 43-6.
But Mohammed, with a splendidly crafted 50 not out, and seventh-wicket partner Jamie Donaldson (22 not out) got their heads down to graft Trojans towards their second win in three Division 2 matches.
A low scoring affair was always likely on a Stoneham ground which, through neglect and lack of investment, has failed to keep pace with the general overall improved club ground standards in the Premier League.
The square, traditionally low in bounce, is in poor condition - inconsistent bounce was the order of the day - and the outfield unkempt and bumpy after use by winter sportsmen.
Batsmen had to battle for every run and 16 wickets had fallen for an aggregate 143 runs before Trojans' seventh-wicket pair got to grips with the situation.
That said, few batsmen could blame the poor surface for their various dismissals, though few ever really got themselves in to play with any degree of confidence.
Past encounters between the sides have often been fraught and Simon Williams and Stuart Tulk, the respective captains, certainly don't appear on each other's Christmas card list.
It set the tone for a `derby' full of niggles, over-excessive appealing and noise from the fielders which often drowned the M27 traffic hum.
Pumped up by Williams's aggressive and vociferous leadership methods, Trojans were buzzing after Giles Lancaster had taken a spectacular catch at second slip to remove the dangerous Charles Forward for seven.
When West Indian all-rounder Tim Subnaik, who had jetted in from Trinidad the previous day, had Max Smith caught behind in the next over, OTs faced problems.
Ian Tulk (20) played several handsome cover drives to lift OTs spirits, but the introduction of Pat Douglas, coming down the Stoneham slope, had a far reaching effect.
Douglas (4-24) produced an unplayable ball which caught Richard Rapley's top edge, and then clean bowled injured Australian Cameron Sterling, whose first knock on English soil lasted barely two minutes.
The Tulk brothers were beginning to redress the balance when, at 53-4, Stuart was run out (attempting a third run) after unwisely challenging Subnaik's strong arm from the deep.
Liverpudlian Stuart Caldicott (15) and Mike Trodd helped the score on to 98-8, but the last two wickets fell for two runs to leave OTs 100 all out in the 46th over.
But the contest was far from over as Mike Trodd's left-arm medium-pace and Jeremy Ord's nagging accuracy planted Trojans deep in trouble.
Trodd (4-35) removed Williams and Le Bas, and Ord (1-13) had Subnaik caught behind as Trojans lurched to 18-3 and later 31-5, with Lancaster and Mike Durand following their team-mates back to the pavilion.
But two factors were to turn the match - Mario Mohammed's resolute batting and the absence by OTs of a third recognised seamer, caused by an injury to Sterling which the Western Australian had apparently taken into the match.
Tulk juggled his bowlers and winkled out a sixth Trojans wicket ... only to see by far the best and most responsible batting of the day by Mohammed and Donaldson turn the match on its head.
The seventh-wicket pair knuckled down to the task and run by run turned the game in Trojans favour.
Mohammed, selective with his shots, played with extreme care, while Donaldson, missed by Nick Wood off a fierce return catch late on, punished anything pitched up but generally produced a timely supportive innings.
Aided by a spate of wides, the pair added 60 to guide Trojans to a victory which, an hour or so after tea, had looked improbable.
© SEPL
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