We didn't lose the first game!

The 4’s opening match vs Newbury 2nds ended in a hard fought draw. They won the toss and elected to bat, making a slow start with only 22 from the first 10 overs from yours truly and Kurt but accelerating after drinks to post on 202 in their 47 overs with the 10th wicket coming off the last ball to complete a 6 for 46 from skipper Grant.

Good contributions were made by all the bowlers (Kurt, Shenica, Patrick, Grant, Dan, Me, Jack), and the fielding was of a higher standard than anyone expected, with some excellent catches and ground fielding by various members of the team, including wicket keeper Stu. Special mention must here go to Waqas whose fielding was superb throughout!

A good start was made to the chase, with Newbury taking the old ball and starting with spin from both ends. Waz and new-opener Patrick getting to nearly 40 before Patrick missed the faster ball from a rather handy leggy, and departed for 12 in the 14th over. Unfortunately, drinks were taken and the short break induced the first of several ducks as the next delivery was fended to gully by Shoaib.

However, the ship was then settled as the new man in, Waqas, and Waz proceeded to accumulate a large number of runs between them. Waz eventually departed LBW having made his 50. (Another special mention must go to Newbury here. Waz had been given LBW previously to a ball that hit his bat before the pads, however this did appear to be a slight error and the Newbury captain withdrew his appeal in a very sporting manner).

Following Waz’s departure, Waqas continued to score at a good rate. However the other end was something of a disaster with Grant (4), Stu (0), Kurt (0), Shenica (0) all falling in quick succession. Jack provided some stability and hung around for a while with some helpful runs before going for 12, however this collapse meant that despite the start we made victory was was disappearing over the horizon to be replaced by the less glorious result of draw, although the spectre of defeat may have started to poke its head around from behind the clubhouse.

Throughout this Waqas continued to score, and with his latest partner, Dan, showing that number 10’s can bat. Waqas reached 65, the highest score for either team, before nicking a slightly shorter delivery from a bowler who was apparently a specialist death bowler (taking the ball for the very last over of the match) to slip with only three balls of the match remaining! Defeat was attempting to make its ugly presence felt.

This left me, coming in at 11 to face the last three balls of a match, with the exhortation of the skipper to ‘not-get-out’ ringing in my ears. Following some brief words with the departing Waqas and Dan, I manged to achieve my objective and the match finished with Dan on a handy 17 not out and me on 0, also not out. Never before have I heard cheers as loud as those provided by my team mates for my leave and two defensive shots.

In summary, a tight game, and a good team effort. Importantly I think we all enjoyed ourselves partly due to the friendly and welcoming, not to mention sporting, opposition.

Sam Gibbs - 4th Team Match Reporter