Post date: Jul 25, 2013 3:40:52 PM
It was another sunny Saturday as BCC hosted a Kenn side sitting one place below them in the league.
Lee was again absent so Mark took the reins, he won the toss, but couldn't decide what to do so strolled back to his side and went with the general consensus which was to chase down whatever the opposition posted. We had a team packed with batting but with LAD's holidays and the like, we were a bit short on the bowling front. That certainly showed early on as Boother, and even Dan Fog struggled to find a good length and Batagodagg spanked anything short to the leg side boundary. The first ten overs leaked runs on a track which was looking very flat, with Kenn racing to 70 without loss. The first drinks break couldn't come soon enough and eventually pick of the bowlers Jacko (9-3-36) got the breakthrough. removing Batagodagg for a slog-filled 62 (we did bowl pretty badly to him to be fair...). Another wicket fell soon after as Nielo got rid of their other opener caught at mid-on for just 8 despite a long spell at the crease. Koueller and Murfin re-kindled things though, with some lusty blows from Koueller and some delightful leaves from Murfin to steady the ship. Cal Mal and Jacko slowed the runs to a snail's pace before Koueller was caught by an absolute stunner by Phil off Jacko's bowling for 34, leaving the score at 84-2 off around 18 overs. Next in was Gosling who looked a little shaky for the first few balls he had faced in senior cricket for the club. He soon changed that though as a huge 6 off Cal kicked him into overdrive and he began dispatching the bowling to all parts. Murfin then finally decided that it was time to try to accelerate and also hit a few nice boundaries. The score reached 145 before Matty got rid of Murfin caught for 41. Gosling continued to play some lovely shots, striking the ball consistently out of the middle. He eventually fell in the last over, caught off Dan Fog for a superb 51 from around 40 balls. Chisslet hit a few more lusty blows to take Kenn to an imposing 254-6, but with our side so batting orientated, we still fancied ourselves to chase down the target.
The BCC chase started well, if a little slower than usual, with Woodsy and Jacko building a solid platform. We reached 43 in 9 overs with no scares before Woodsy held back on a drive and was caught for 13. Jacko was striking the ball beautifully before he too was back in the hutch, skying a drive to depart for 34. Phil and Mark Fog re-built, putting together a fluent 50 partnership before Phil was also out caught. Neilo came to the crease off the back of 40-odd last week and hit a 6 early on to settle his nerves. Disaster followed as Mark Fog was triggered yet again, he wafted at one outside off-stump and was given out caught behind! James came and went caught off a waist high full-toss at square leg to give Clay his third (9-3-47). At 114-5, 'man for a crisis' Matty walked out, and started in typical fashion by smashing a few early boundaries. Him and Nielo were going well before Nielo was bowled going back. Pat hit a boundary but then top edged one leaving us in all sorts of trouble at 159-7. With only 10 overs left and chances of victory effectively gone, our best bet was to chase the 200 for full batting points. Thanks to Matty and Dan we got up to 178 before Dan run out by a direct hit. Some great shots by Matty and stern defence from Cally got us close before Cally was bowled, leaving Matty and the ever reliable Boother needing just 2 runs to get to the 200. Boother answered his batting critics by unleashing the 'strimmer' straight at short leg who was almost killed! The batsmen scampered through for 2 bringing up the 200. With just 1 over left to bat to deny Kenn the full 20 points, Boother was given out LBW (looked pretty straight!) as we finished 201 all out. It was a top knock from Matty yet again (51no) but the rest of the batsmen got in and then got out, making it hard for the tail to score at the difficult run rate which we required. Next week it's away to Topsham St J, and this time we really do need a win if we're to avoid being near the relegation zone for the last few games!