Exciting 20 Points for the 2nd XI

We won the toss and decided to have a bat first, on what looked like a half decent track. Matt Lyon (7) and Steve Sleight (1) opened the batting but, alas, both fell cheaply. With the lack of number 3s in the side, captain, Darren Edwards, went in and in his own words, "it’s not very often I bat 35 overs, but I did." Jasper Dennison (4) was in and out, which allowed for Charlie Shelton (17) to come in and play some cracking shots on a very damp outfield. The rest of the batting line up fell relatively quickly and without troubling the scorer too much. Daz continued to dig in, but finally fell in the final over for 47, leaving Tom Paintain not out. Clumber Park CC managed to amass 99 all out.

During the interval, we had a chat and came to the conclusion that our total could be competitive if we were strong in the field... And how true this came to be... Before I go on, I would just like to say that our fielding was outstanding, led by Charlie Shelton, who again made a huge difference and was encouraging the team from ball one.

Moving on to our bowling, where Dan Fotheringham and Jasper opened up. Dan, who bowled brilliantly again, made an early breakthrough, however their other opener and number 3 batted well and put on a decent partnership. They took their score from 2-1 to well in to the forties, and we could see the game drifting away from us as they became the favourites.
However, our first change bowlers Callum Edwards and Tim Beer changed the game! Callum caught their other opener off of Tim's bowling, and got their number 3 out (caught by Dad, Darren Edwards). Tim was awesome with the ball, finishing with 4-16 off 8 overs consisting of an LBW and three catches - one of which was out of this world (the batsmen hit it high and over Evan Bownes at mid on, who ran back with Callum at mid off. Evan brilliantly managed to get a hand to the ball but somehow before the ball hit the floor Callum one handedly caught it!!! It was that good that the batsmen, and all of us to be fair, couldn't believe it and had to check with the umpire that it'd actually been caught). Anston were now 6 down with 60 runs on the board, and the game was in the balance.
In true 2nd team style anyone who doesn't get a bat, has a bowl, so enter the return of David 'Frem' Freeman. After his first ball, which landed on the moon, Frem bowled some great line and lengths and was rewarded with a wicket. Anston were now 7 down with 60 odd runs on the board. Unaffected by the pressure, Tom Paintain came on to bowl, and performed brilliantly, picking up two well deserved wickets - that’s 9 down with 72 on the board. From the other end, Frem wrapped up the game by bowling their number 10! Anston finished 78 all out

This was a fantastic effort from our junior led side, with Anston going from 40 odd for 1 to 72 all out. Clumber Park CC win by 21 runs.

That makes it two 20 point wins on the trot for our 2nd XI. Let's make it three out of three, as they face Clipstone & Bilsthorpe CC away next weekend.