Atworth vs Venturers, Wednesday May 12th

Atworth 113-5 : Venturers 114-5 - 18 overs per side

We haven't played at Atworth before, and it turned out to be a nice ground tucked behind the pub. The outfield undulated, in a similar manner to the ground where we play Bill Owen, and the wicket had suffered at the hands of the recent and current rain, but was still decent.

We waited for the rain to stop, but it wouldn't, so we started fielding hunched into our jumpers and with the game shortened to 18 overs each. Kevin bowled three overs for three runs, but with no breakthrough. Tom R opened from the other end and struggled to maintain a good line. Their two openers took their time and clattered any bad balls for 6 or 4. Roger and Fluffy were first change and neither showed much control. A few hard catches were put down and the younger opener began to cut loose, eventually retiring on 52. Alex W and Simon were next offered the wet ball and showed a lot more control, and success, though this may have been partially down to their strongest batsman having gone. The run rate slowed and wickets began to fall. Nazar finished the bowling well and we were faced with 114 to win.

Chris and Roger opened the batting. Early on, Chris took a tight second to fine leg and was most unfortunate to be run out by a direct hit. Ian G replaced him and initially showed calm intent before an aberration saw him lose his wicket. Kevin followed and initially batted brightly and he and Roger had us comfortably up with the run rate. Atworth then brought the quality of the bowling up several notches. In between innings, their 11th man had showed up looking worryingly professional and started doing some energetic stretches. He and their retiree reigned in the scoring and Roger fell for 39. Alex W and Alex C helped the scoring briefly, but then also fell, Alex W having needed to replace his bat after cracking his first choice. He was followed by Rob (Ian G's neighbour, not our treasurer) in one of his first ever cricket matches. A nice flick to leg got him off the mark and good keen running to keep Kevin on strike got us into the last over, needing 9 more. A two and a single brought Rob back on stike, who was promptly bowled trying to drive the ball. This brought Nazar in, needing 6 from 3. This was happily acheived through three well run twos and Nazar's ability to finish games for us continues. Kevin was happy at the non-striker's end, not out on 29.

Fixtures & Results 2010