Everton CC won the toss and put the 1st XI in to bat on a hot summers day. Dave Beard led the way, on an excellent, pacy track, with an entertaining 73, with able support from Ed Foulds (33) and Dave Taylor (29). With the scoreboard showing 173-5 with 6 overs left, we were well set to post above 200. But, all didn't go to plan. When Chris Ward (14) holed out on the last ball of the 33rd over, a horrific collapse to the back end of the batting order was triggered. CPCC lost 5 wickets for 8 runs, resulting in being bowled out for 181 from 38.1 overs!

With the ball, we started really well. Ben Perkins (1-28) reeled off 8 tidy overs and Zak Berridge once again bowled an excellent opening spell (6 overs for just 11 runs). We continued to work hard throughout the innings, chipping away, and when Everton needed 70 runs off of the last 10 overs with 5 wickets left, the 1st XI thought they were firm favourites.
Everton's batsmen, however, kept hitting it in the air, finding the gaps and having lucky edges. They now required 21 runs off of 3 overs with 4 wickets left. Captain, Mark Dean, struck twice in two balls (both with good catches from Zak) in his final over to put us on top again. Everton, now 8 wickets down, needed 17 runs off of 2 overs to win. Chris Ward then got his second wicket, which allowed for their number 11 to come to the crease. He hit the final ball of the over over cover, with a superb cover drive against the spin, to the only boundary where we didn’t have a sweeping fielder. It all came down to the final over - 7 needed for Everton to win. Zak Berridge bowled well: first ball, dot, 7 required; second ball, two runs, 5 required; third ball, one run, 4 required. But, alas, off the 4th ball of the over, the Everton batsman squeezed one through the backward point position, that raced to the boundary to win them the game.

As a team, barely anything was done wrong in the field and Captain, Mark Dean, was really proud of everyone’s efforts in trying to defend their total. All bowlers did their bit: Ben (1-28 off 8) Zak (0-18 off 6.4), Simon Dean (0-19 off 5), Jasper Dennison (2-38 off 7), Chris (2-46 off 5) and Mark Dean (3-29 off 8) and our fielding was at a good standard - 3 catches from Zak alone was a highlight!

It’s not easy losing close games and this is the third close defeat on the bounce for the 1st XI. In this game, it was the batting collapse that cost the game. They will keep a positive mindset, learn from it and ensure similar situations are better managed the next time they arise. As usual, there were still plenty of positives to take away from the game and despite the 3 recent defeats, the 1st XI has picked up 8, 10 and 9 points in those matches.
The challenge continues and the full 20 points will be the aim for next weekend, where the 1st XI face Retford away.