Match Report vs Cavaliers 23 July 2013 @ Cathedral School (Skipper Cheese, report Shag)

The Casuals were to play the Cavaliers once again in the cup semi, Skipper Ed lost the toss and the Casuals were asked to bat first. Most of us have never seen a wicket quite like the one that had been prepared – from a distance it looked yellow singed grass, but on closer inspection it had no grass on it at all – just dusty mud – looked more like a test pitch than the Willow semi.

Jonny F and Jesus opened the innings. The start was slow against good accurate bowling and after the first 3 overs the score had limped to just 9. Will now on strike took a liking to the 3rd Cavs bowler and smashed 19 off it bringing the score more in tune to what was needed. Two overs later Will retired (as you must once reached 25 in the cup) bringing Cheese to the crease. He and John tried to rotate the strike as much as possible until Ed was caught for 7 with the score on 59 in the 8th over.

Tim next in and he John continued to try and increase the run rate, Tim dealt mainly in 2s hitting to the off side but did include a 6 to leg, John struggled to time the ball but finally retired with a 6 in the 10th over, bringing in Tesh. The pair got the Cazh to 97 before Tim was stumped for 19 in the 13th over. Gazz T came in with with 7 overs remaining and was told to try and up the pace – however, having a groin injury didn’t help the running.

Gazz valiantly continued and fell in the 16th over for 8 and Tesh run out soon after for 22 with the score now on 142, but only 9 balls left of the innings. Britpop flung the bat at anything and watched both Dan, Steveo and Shakey come and go without scoring running suicide runs to try and get a couple more on the board. The Cazh finished on 148-7 off the 18overs. Initial thoughts were that this probably wasn’t going to be enough.

John F – 27 ret
Will MW – 29 ret
Ed – 7ct
Tim – 19st
Tesh 22ro
Gazz T – 9b
Britpop – 12no
Dan – 0ro
Steveo – 0ro
Shakey- 0ro
Paul – DNB
Extras – 23

So with an ok total to defend the Cazh needed to be sharp in the field and with the ball.

Shag and Shakey opened the bowling and for the first few overs things looked ok, Shag going for 7 off his two overs and Shakey going for 7 in the first and 10 in the second. Tim and Steveo took over, though the Cavs were looking to score off every delivery.

The first break though came when Stedders took a chance on a second run but was run out by a good pick up and through by Shag to Keeper Will. The other opener retired soon after and the second break though also came via a run out – this time Cheese. At this point the Cazh had their tails up after 2 wickets in quick succession.

However, the Cavs never took their foot off the gas and although all the Cazh bowlers tried their best, the quick succession of boundaries and subsequent retirees never really gave us a chance. Pablo got a wicket towards the end of the innings, but the Cavs reached the target with 2.5 overs to spare.

The highlight once again was the barmaid in the Butchers post match!

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