Another match, another win, another glorious kit-pack.
The day started poorly for the Australian contingent, with Rich Clark's withdrawal due to what we can only assume was a shagging injury. Based on the previous encounter, we weren't particularly worried about facing Sunningwell with only 10 men. This obviously meant they showed up with a stronger side.
I assume we won the toss, because we batted first. Rhodri took the shine off the ball before being bowled in the third over by the only ball their quickish opener got to move back in. He then proceded to bowl about a million wides. Despite some early variable bounce, Sunil and Skip were barely troubled but weren't scoring freely enough for the 300 run target (set by Skip before seeing the oppo) to appear within reach. We didn't reach the century mark until after tea. Sunil fell victim to the call to accelerate the scoring, having totalled 63 in a partnership of 100, and therefore not being the one responsible for the disappointing run-rate. Nick came and went, but not as quickly as I did. "How the mighty have fallen." I can hear you say, but at least I haven't been wasting many deliveries. Matt Benson steadied the ship while Skip continued to plunder the attack, enjoying the lack of bounce. The phrase 'flat track bully' was used, not inappropriately. Martin provided solid support as Skip belted his way towards a century. He fell 3 runs short, but had lifted the run-rate to well over 5 per over. Raj flicked his was to 7, while Chris Mellor provided kit-pack competition but fell one ball short. 8 for 229.
After scamming £25 off the oppo for another sub-standard tea, which Chalky didn't even stay around for, Casper and Martin argued about which end they would bowl from. Chris donned the pads, giving me the opportunity to show off in the field. Or I would have if they had hit it near me. Casper showed no signs of the layoff, loving the greentop more than Chris, who managed to stop most things with one part of his body or another. The first wicket fell in the 12th over. TFG didn't claim a scalp until the 8th over of his 9 over spell. Matt got a couple thanks to some poor batting. Nick and Raj bore the brunt of their opener's hitting, so a desperate Skip turned back to Casper for another 7 overs. The opener chanced his arm once too often, presenting me with a sharp but ultimately comfortable catch. Chris then stopped one with his head and understandebly had trouble seeing afterwards. I stepped in and watched Casp claim a couple more as the asking rate soared. Rhodri came on to bowl at the younger members of their team, but failed to intimidate. They fell 40 runs short, but had proved more capable than in our previous encounter.
Sunday's game against Langford was cancelled due to lack of interest on their part, leaving a few of our elder statesmen stranded at Manny Road with nothing to do. Sorry lads. A wise man once said, "You know what they'll say. They'll blame the captain."
AO