Venturers vs Hay Hill, Tuesday July 28th

Hay Hill 120-7 Venturers 90-5

The weather was looking iffy when we dragged our kit out to pitch three at Sulis. The standard preused wicket didn't look too bad and we ended up bowling first.

Their openers included a shivering Zimbabwean who had almost won them the 20:20 match last year, but we had him caught off a high edge early on. Chris (the nearest fielder), Rob (the bowler) and Simon (wicket keeping) all seemed confident that one of the others was going to take it. Chris eventually realised it was his and a surprising turn of pace got him under the ball and he took the catch comfortably. Simon T meanwhile was his usual luckless self opening down the hill.

The new batsman looked iffy - he was having to hold necessary equipment in place whilst running and even had to change his bat. At our level, though, this normally means they are quite good and he was eventually out for 69. In between times there was a serious, but brief downpour which resulted in a bit of a slippy ball and interesting run ups for those bowlers without spikes. Tom Robinson bowled some good balls once his feet found the floor, but Chris M and Fluffy both struggled to threaten down the hill. Tom M took a couple of balls to get going, but then with Alex W at the other end helped rein in the innings, Alex taking three wickets. Tom Rosoman took a good high catch, all the better given his feet went from under him and he took the catch as he hit the floor - maybe he needs a lesson from Ian G on how to fall gracefully. Richard and Charlie were both put to the challenge of charging round the outfield and did an admirable job given the skiddy conditions but by the end Hay Hill had made 127 for 8.

Fluffy and Tom Rosoman opened the batting and both struggled a bit against the quite zippy Zimbabwean lad. Fluffy got out trying to score, Tom and Alex W who followed both got out whilst scoring, Tom having hit one soaring six. Simon T and Chris M settled things down a bit, but this also meant we were going to need some impressive acceleration. Chris M promptly maimed his £2.50 bat, but the new one was not anymore potent. Tom M and Charlie both had a go at getting the runs, but by the time Tom Robinson got his first bat for the Venturers we needed about 40 off the last two balls. The fact that it took four deliveries to achieve this still didn't result in enough runs.

Fixtures & Results 2009