This was a timed game and I won the toss and decided to stick us in on a nice day. Everyone in our side got into double figures, apart from me, as I was quickly cleaned up by an inswinging yorker on my toes. Ben Mallinson (21) batted well and Dilan (35) made a typically steady contribution in the middle order, along with a somewhat quicker 38 from Faz Ahmed and 40 from Tauseef Khan. In the end, we'd posted 239 from 50 overs, which seemed defendable at the time.
They got off to a modest start and for a while it looked like they weren't going to get anywhere near the total. However, their number 3 (Oli George) wasn't easy to dislodge and ended up getting an aggressive 70 which put them insight of nicking a winning draw and 4 points. At this point, towards the end of the game, things did get a little bad tempered with some players showing their frustration at the fact that we were about to lose 3 points from a decent position. In the end, they just got there (or said they did, according to what they put on the scoreboard) with one over to spare. Pick of our bowlers were probably TK (12-1-41-3) and Harry Polhill (11-1-42-2).
Some controversy over their scorebook ensued, though, when I realised their bowling figures only added up to 198. I don't know why some teams find it so hard to score properly; it isn't that hard to add these numbers up! (As it was turn out, though, this was thankfully not going to affect the overall league results, as both teams were to stay in Division 2, so we can put it aside. Probably worthwhile trying to find someone who can score and doesn't mind spend their Saturdays sitting in a field for £10-20 or so. Wishful thinking?)
Author: Matt O'Toole