3 Losses For Starters

The first league circket matches of the season went thus:

The Sunday Team lost to Old E bu 1 run. RT2 hit 56 and Angelo hit 38 in a total of 178 all out. In reply the old enemy hit the winning runs off the last ball. Kalpit bowled 6 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket for 16 runs. RT2 bowled 8 overs, 3 maidens, 1 wicket for 25 runs.

The Saturday 1sts lost to Nailsea 3rds. They hit 158 all out. Wilko got 2 for 27, Gibbo 4 for 17 and Kalu 1 for 20. Preash got 2 stumpings. In reply we hit 148 all out. Preece hir 29 and Budge hit 27. Match repot below.

The Saturday 2nds lost to Whitchurch 3rds by 11 runs. They hit 140 all out. Barnaby got 3 for 24, Fat Boy 2 for 21 and Hoops 2 for 22. In reply we hit 129 all out. Aussie Pete hit 48.

Sat 1 vrs Nailsea 3

Trying to bowl at Nailsea on Saturday was like throwing a wiff waff ball at a coconut in a hurricane. Which is why I doff my woolly hat to Messrs Burgess, Tinkler, Kumara, Wilkinson and Gibbons for keeping the ball in tight corridors and restricting Nailsea to a fairly paltry and gettable total.

The Cowboys lost here in the final over last year as a cold wind blasted, many small children ran around shrieking and footballers swore behind the beech hedge. Plus ca change.

On paper, the Cowboys looked invincible. Sadly, the paper was caught by a gust of wind and blown down the Severn estuary. And it had all started so well, with Iggy winning the toss and asking the opposition to bat on a slightly damp but fast-drying wicket.

Mister Burgess from the church end and Mister Tinkler from the other opened up the assault with the new ball, which they delivered accurately and beguilingly, despite a stiff breeze in an exposed field, the aspect of which is surely ripe for the erection of several wind turbines capable of supplying electricity to the whole of Bristol.

The ball did have an alarming tendency to fly swiftly from edges to the boundary line, but Joe and Rob kept the runs down and the pressure on, forcing both openers into errors that cost them their wicket. Your correspondent was then given the ball, which he controlled with the dexterity of an inebriated driver in a multi-storey car park, much to the Nailsea batsmen’s glee and profit. Did I mention the wind?

Lalith and Mark then showed how it was done, with spells of brave and tight bowling, more than ably assisted by debutant Preash who bagged a couple of stumpings as the Cowboys fought to regain control. Ev came on to bowl at some children who bravely hit back a bit before being dismissed. Somewhere along the way a ball got launched into the airspace above Ben’s head and he was blinded by the light – revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night – and forced to take protective action as the ball plummeted to earth a few feet away. How we laughed.  Iggy, having pulled a muscle to ensure his position at slip, held two sharp chances but was unable to bowl, so to limit the opposition to 159 all out on the penultimate ball of the innings, with Ev taking a tidy 4-17 was a par performance. Could we sink the birdie?

Not on a tea of persil-white bread and sugar. Haven’t they heard of wholegrains here? At least it wasn’t windy inside.

Dave and Ev opened the batting needing four an over. The latter returned in the second, caught behind playing horizontally, leaving Ben to build a partnership which crept up to two an over before Dave was also caught by the keeper. Duncan helped move the score along, Ben timed the ball sweetly for boundaries, then Duncan was caught for a dozen and Mark joined Ben, who was bowled in the 21st over for 29. The Cowboys were 62 for 4, still needing another hundred runs. Lalith arrived at the wicket only to lose Mark the following over, bringing Preash to the crease, who proved a steadying anchorman as Lalith played his shots and sometimes found both ball and boundary.

With the required run rate nearly in sight, Lalith fell to another catch and your correspondent joined Preash, successfuly middling a few before feathering a tickle to the keeper as the ball drifted away. Have I mentioned the wind? Joe stuck around much longer, building what was to be the highest partnership of the innings with Preash, keeping the target in sight and making it look possible. When he fell for a spirited 27 the injured skipper came to the wicket with a runner in tow and possible hilarity ensued. None of us were laughing when he returned after pulling his first ball straight into mid-wicket’s hands. RT1 strode confidently out to face the hat-trick ball, the Cowboys still requiring 29 from the last five overs with the last pair at the wicket..

Despite making Nailsea work hard, running and striking with intent and coming close to a remarkable recovery, the Cowboys fell just a dozen runs short with a couple of overs remaining when Rob was bowled for legs eleven, stalwart Preash not out on the same score.

The Man of the Match vote went to Joe and the Cider Moment was shared between Joe palming a ball from his face, Ben’s “invisible ball trick” and Iggys two slip catches.

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