Well, we won the toss, and I decided to bat. They really are a good side, and none of us managed to score freely, but we did manage to knock up a few more runs than last week, finishing all out for 97.
Tea was delightful. Cucumber sandwiches (with the edges cut off) and china cups of tea, followed by fairy cakes. I think our hosts were trying to make a special effort to make us feel at home.
I could see that keeping them, over a whole 40 overs, to below 98 was going to be a real problem - if our bowlers could contain them to just 2 runs an over, we’d win. 2½ runs, however, and we’d lose. I kept a very careful eye on the bowling figures (which you too can see at the foot of this post) and took bowlers off as soon as they started to become expensive.
Fortunately, most of you managed to stick to game-plan, although it was getting very tight towards the end – they had reached 89-4 with four overs still to be bowled, and the match looked lost. Vicus and I bowled three tight overs, however…
…and so we reached the last over of the match, with everything still in the balance. They needed just 4 runs to win. Rather than any of you having to take the blame for allowing them to beat us, I decided to bowl the over myself. 5 dot balls followed. I knew they’d go for a big hit on the last ball of the match – one boundary and they would win - so I set the field back a bit, spun the ball, and allowed it to drift slightly – just enough to catch an edge – the ball flew up…
…straight into Phil’s hands.
And straight out again. Still, they didn’t score a run, and so we won the match (and the 3 match mini-series) by 3 runs!!
And now we pop over to
2 comments:
Oooh, I got the highest score in the Economy list! Hurrah!
Yes, Phil. Well done.
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