Venturers vs Bristol Academicals, Sunday May 22nd

Bristol Academicals 169-9, Venturers 155

On a very windy day the main problem was keeping control of the ball. Even at Renju's pace the ball was blown wide, and bowlers were losing balance in the run-up. We considered using some blu-tak, considerately posted to us by Somerset County Cricket Club, to secure the bails, but as twenty-eight of the thirty-nine wickets we had taken before the match were bowled we thought the results might be unsatisfactory.

Renju made it twenty-nine out of forty before ten runs were on the board, and he and Paul were hard to score off. So was Santha: Satheesh was a little less tight but picked up two wickets (both bowled). The sight of two left-handers at the crease, beginning to look threatening, was enough reason for Tom to give the ball to Gregory, and he bowled both of them. Thirty-three out of forty-four, or three-quarters. Shashank spoiled it by catching a mishit off one of Gregory's less impressive deliveries, and Chiran began a long and accurate spell from the bottom end. It wasn't until his seventh over that he got the wicket he deserved, with another to follow, but Tom had proved expensive at the top end as well as a little unlucky. From 93-6 they had escaped to 128-6 before Chiran's wickets and one for Paul reduced them to 132-9, but Chiran ran out of overs. Tom asked Gregory for advice and between them they messed it up: Gregory, instead of demanding the ball himself, suggested Renju and then Satheesh. Both had bowled well earlier but couldn't recapture rhythm and somehow we gave away 47 runs in the last five overs to the last-wicket pair. Even Santha's direct hit wasn't quite good enough.

Ilyas and Kevin both found scoring runs difficult and were out cheaply, though not quickly. One of their opening bowlers had one for none from three overs when he bowled Ilyas. At the other end there was a little for Shashank to hit and a few wind-assisted wides, but Renju made only a few and Satheesh failed completely. Then Shashank got out and we were sinking fast. Chiran and Alex were very slow at first but pulled it round with 42 for the sixth wicket, posting the hundred in the 21st over. We had enough time; but they both fell in quick succession and it was left to Tom and Santha to rebuild. It always felt like a bit too much, with the opening bowlers available later, and when Tom was bowled, as Alex had been, by the spinner, it felt like much too much. Santha, though, was not yet finished. Paul fell cheaply but Gregory for once contributed a few runs rather than just blocking and they had made 20 of the 39 they had needed. One of the fast bowlers was brought back to stop the nonsense but he produced a full toss which Gregory, expecting a yorker and therefore moving forward, could not evade. He was able to continue but a couple of balls later failed to get sufficiently forward to a better attempt at a yorker, leaving Santha stranded.

Fixtures & Results 2011