Sad Slump for the 1st XI

Bildworth Colliery Welfare CC won a useful toss and decided to bat first.
Zak Berridge opened up for us, bowling very well finishing with top figures of 2-9 from his 6 overs. This included the key wicket of their overseas pro thanks to a brilliant diving catch from Chris Mather who was outstanding in the covers all innings. With Blidworth at 28-2, we fancied our chances. However, things didn't quite go our way as a massive LBW shout got turned down and all the seamers bowled numerous jaffas that beat the bat but failed to find the edge (or found a very thick edge down to third man). In all honesty, the team lacked a bit of consistency at times and as Blidworth reached 90-2 with loads of overs left, we definitely needed an upturn in fortunes. Luckily, it was the captain's day as Mark Dean came on and picked up 6-47 off of 8 overs. At the other end, Simon Dean was excellent taking 2-21 from 6.4 overs. One of Simon's wickets was courtesy of an absolutely jaw-dropping, one-handed, leaping-like-a-salmon pluck out of the sky catch by Dave Taylor. From 90-2, the 1st XI managed to bowl Blidworth out for 166 from 38.4 overs. A competitive score on the surface, but the team were really pleased with how they battled away and kept their fielding sharp.

Sadly, that was as good as it got as we collapsed to 96 all out in reply. That might seem a bit of a limp effort but credit must be given to the spell their pro bowled - quick, full and straight. The yorker that bowled Dave Beard was of very high quality in particular. We also had a couple of very rough (in our view) LBWs given. It just wasn't our day with the bat.
Ben Perkins' 15 was the top score, although special mentions are due to Ben Tomlinson (10*) who batted out 52 balls and Hayden Cox (12) who whacked a couple of gorgeous down the ground fours.

A defeat, but on the positive side it is 7 bonus points earned. Next weekend, the 1st XI don't have to travel very far as they will take on Worksop CC's 1st XI at their Central Avenue ground.