1st XI's Triumph on a Tricky Track

Everton CC won the toss and stuck us in to bat. It was clear in the early stages that the bounce in the pitch was going to be all over the place with some shooting through at ankle height and others sticking and popping up around the waist - tricky conditions. Dave Beard hit some nice shots, but when James Davies and Dave Taylor fell in quick succession we were soon struggling at 60 odd for 4. Simon Bingham and Mark Dean dug in and slowly started to rebuild with Mark blocking and scoring singles and Simon hitting all the good shots as he brought up a marvellous maiden half-century for the 1st XI. We wrestled ourselves into a commending position but then with the partnership on 91, Mark fell for 25 to a direct-hit run-out, quickly followed by Simon who was bowled the very next ball for 78. This left us at about 150 odd for 6. Given the conditions, it was a great effort from Simon – well done! We still had 8 or so overs left and Everton CC probably sniffed an opportunity but Ben Perkins played a great little innings of 25 to ensure we finished on a decent 210 all out off of 38.3 overs.

Ordinarily, that would be a good score, however, I haven’t yet mentioned the very small boundary on one side of just 36 yards! So, with Everton CC's lineup having some clean strikers, our bowlers were under pressure to bowl tightly to make it as hard as possible for the opposition to reach that short boundary. Step up Ben Perkins and Zak Berridge! Both were sensational in their opening spells, although you’ll have to forgive me as I don't have the scorecards to hand to report the exact bowling figures. Suffice to say, Zak reeled off his 6 overs taking 3 crucial wickets and going for hardly any runs. At the other end, Ben P (in the form of his life) reeled off 8 overs 1 for 14 to put us in early control. Brilliant you two, absolutely perfect!
Hayden Cox came on, picked up a wicket and bowled really well once again, Simon Dean picked up 2 and Ben Tomlinson bowled nicely to finish things off, picking up 3 wickets. Fair play to Everton CC who went down swinging with some lusty blows, but our bowlers need not worry about that as we finished comfortable winners by 63 runs. Everton CC 147 all out from 31 overs.

Despite our batting unit not being perfect today, it is impressive to see in these recent weeks several players standing up and gritting it out to ensure we build partnerships and post respectable totals. On the bowling front, all the bowers were brilliant and played their part today. We were also looking sharp in the field. The same side that lost 6 on the bounce earlier in the season has now won 4 out of 5, claiming 91 points out of the last 100.

The 1st XI hopes to make this 111 points out of the last 120 next weekend as they host Blidworth Colliery Welfare CC.