An End of Season Victory

I used to think the hardest part of being 4th team captain was trying to find players when short. Recently I discovered it is far harder when have 20 players available and despite rotation many players without a game.

So we headed to our final game with a strong team. I won the toss and it was a no brainer to bat first on a good looking wicket. Hitamsch and Phil got us off to a strong start with a 65 opening partnership. This was broken when Hitamsch was hit in the unmentionables, stayed on and then was out for 21. This was the start of bad behaviour by the old player for the opposition showing no concern, more later. Phil was then out for 27. A couple of quick wickets then strong batting from Prasanth 37 and Nassar 39, off not many balls. Another wicket then a final partnership between Ronesh and Ken of 55. Leaving our highest total of the season 236.

A good total but with a good strip, game not won. Then a difficult start. The old git was umpiring and decided we hadn't played fair. So he was going to give non existent wides and no catches. This led to the bowlers losing their composure, Prasanth starting with a 12 ball over! They had lost one player but were well ahead of the run rate. Ray then stepped in for a team gather to calm down and focus on what needed to be done. Prasanth returned to normal, getting a key wicket and eventually 3 wickets. Another good batsman came out but Bilal (7 overs for 23) and then after drinks Ronesh (8 overs for 28) came on to slow the run rate down successfully, despite this big hitter. Bilal was then replaced by Calum who bowled well (8 overs for 36) and was the tightest he had been for the 4s this season. So although we only took 5 wickets they were 31 runs short. A very good victory all the team involved in the result.