The West Indies looked like being formidable opposition, as they seemed to be the men of three years ago, with Lara at his peak. They won the toss and decided to bat. Twelve overs of mainly defensive play against our main-line bowlers saw them at 28-0, with not a single wicket-taking chance being offered. I decide to try a few of our lesser bowlers, to see if I could tempt the batsmen into doing something rash.
That tactic failed, so I returned to our main bowlers – which is when they did decide to attack. With runs flowing freely and no sign of being able to get them our, I cursed the fact that I’d agreed that we’d play a 50-over match, rather than our usual 40-overs.
Chindarpool’s 50 came up in the 29th over, with the score on 82-0.
Finally, with Goyler on 47, and a little excited about getting his half-century (yes, the computer does actually factor in nerves at times like this, it is an amazingly clever little programme) Tom managed to knock out his middle stump: 115-1.
Christopher took a brilliant catch off Mincat’s bowling to dismiss Chindarpool: 142-2.
Unfortunately that brought Lara in, and he set about our bowling – but before he got too far, I tempted him with an off-spinner, which he mis-hit, Ivy holding the catch: 157-3.
Richard held an edge off Mincat: 157-4.
Two overs later I held a catch off Mincat – her swing bowling was the decisive factor here, as it really seemed to be deceiving them: 175-5.
A few balls later I held another catch: 176-6.
The next over Ivy held another catch off my bowling: 176-7.
I knocked out the off-stump with my next ball: 176-8.
And took a hat-trick with the next: 176-9.
And another five-fer with my next: 176 all out.
Despite my five wicket haul, I would say that Mincat was definitely the pick of our bowlers.
Tea-time was quiet. I think we were all very conscious of our poor batting performance over the last month, and against an impressive line-up of both speed and spin our prospects looked hopeless. There were some very pasty faces around the table (oddly matching the Cornish pasties we were eating).
Carol and CB made a solid start, before Carol was bowled: 28-1.
Mine was the next wicket to fall, when I casually edged the ball to the slips: 49-2.
CB was dropped twice, but rode her luck to a fine maiden half-century:
Sadly, she was caught behind soon after, but not before she and Steg had pushed our score to: 104-3.
Steg had been striking the ball well, but was finally caught on the boundary: 140-4.
It looked as if Richard and Christopher would see us home, but sadly Richard was caught off a top edge: 164-5.
Within sight of the finishing tape Christopher was caught-and-bowled: 174-6.
With the scores tied, Ivy was bowled, as she tried to hit the winning run: 176-7.
The match ended in anti-climax, as they bowled a wide, and thus our 177th run came up and we won the match.
No comments:
Post a Comment