Match Report - 4th July vs.
Rhiwbina at Wenvoe. (author Jonny F)
The skipper of the day kept up the Casz tradition of losing
the toss and the opposition captain invited us to bat first
on a Wenvoe pitch that was even slower and lower than usual
- a circumstance which doesn't really suit the Casz batting
line-up, although we did manage a fairly respectable total
at the end.
Bad Back 1 and Bad Back 2 (aka Andy Hood and JF) opened the
innings, Andy making batting look incredibly easy, whilst
the acting captain scratched around making it look impossible
before finally dragging one on for 5.
This brought Goughy to the crease and 11 runs later he was
on his way back given out lbw by Steve (after about a 20 second
delay, in spite of being hit on the front leg a long way forward,
with a suspicion of a little bit of bat involved
and
because the opposition shouted really loudly!!!!). Plumb,
my arse! (That's not an invitation by the way). When will
we ever learn?
Nevertheless, Mr Ed and Andy put together a good partnership
before fatigue got the better of Mr Hood who chipped one to
mid-off for a fine 42.
Colin came in and did a good job for the team, throwing a
bat at the bowling and not wasting many deliveries before
also skewing one to mid-off for 5.
Paul then joined Ed in the middle for the last couple of overs
and although they were never troubled by the slow dobbers,
the lack of pace and bounce in the pitch made it difficult
to get the ball away as they tried to accelerate. At the close
of the innings, Paul had finished 9 not out and Ed was unbeaten
on 28 (thanks to some fine umpiring decisions and Goughy almost
starting a fight by not giving in to an appeal for a stumping)
Total 111 for 4 off the full 20 overs: not a bad total, but
we should have got about 20 more. We didn't run enough singles,
we didn't turn enough ones into twos and we didn't take enough
boundaries off the bad balls.
Now, I believe that if you bowl straight and field well,
111 is a defendable total at Wenvoe
Dan got us off to a fine start with a maiden, whilst Mr F
Jnr, by his own admission, bowled a mixed bag first up and
the bad balls were put away for boundaries. Dan continued
bowling well and was not helped by some indifferent fielding,
most notably from the acting captain - hands up, lads! Andy
F came back really well with three tight overs and the wicket
of their dangerous left-handed opener - thanks to a straight-forward
catch by Paul and a magnificent piece of field placing by
well, by Paul himself who read the batsman perfectly.
Justin came on first change and bowled a magnificent spell
of 4-1-15-0. When you consider that one ball went for a straight
six (Ed refused to retrieve the ball from the field next to
the house, in spite of the captain's pleas), this meant that
Justin bowled 23 deliveries for a stingy 9 runs against two
decent batters who were well set - brilliant stuff from JT.
Kevin was also bowling well from the other end but we just
couldn't stem the flow of singles and he should have had a
wicket when the acting captain put down a catch which he would
normally have held, and which might have changed the course
of the match - hands up, lads!
With the opposition requiring less than a run a ball with
9 wickets in hand, the skipper's plan for the last five overs
was to bring the field in to cut off the singles and force
them to try to hit Muff's nagging dobbers off the square whilst
Paul kept it tight at the other end - and it almost worked!
- for two overs anyway.
In his first over Muff almost took a difficult return catch
and he wasn't helped out by more indifferent fielding from
yours truly (hands up again). Paul then bowled an excellent
over in the circumstances (conceding only 3 runs) - and especially
having to contend with Goughy shouting "Let's see the
size of your bollocks!" and "Those are massive bollocks!"
after a particularly good delivery..
This left them needing 18 off 18 balls and I reckon they
didn't fancy leaving it to the last over, so their captain
decided to go for it. He came down the track twice and hit
Muff to wide long on and to cow corner for two fours, effectively
ending the game as a contest. There was nothing wrong with
the deliveries and on another day he might have missed one
and been bowled or stumped (some chance, Goughy!) or he might
have edged one up to a fielder. Things just didn't go Muff's
way on the night.
They were comfortable winners in the end with two overs to
spare, leaving us to reflect on another series of 'What ifs
'
What if we had scored more boundaries?
What if we had run more singles?
What if we had turned more ones into two?
What if we had fielded better?
What if we had held our catches?
Maybe there's a lesson to be learnt here.
Dan L 4-1-22-0
Andy F 4-0-23-1
Justin T 4-1-15-0
Kevin M 3-0-21-0
Matt F 2-0-20-0
Paul S 1-0-3-0
Casz Man of the Match: Justin Thomas for a brilliant spell
of bowling / Andy Hood for a well made 42 and a good fielding
display in spite
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