Ricky fall to organised Hatfield

Once again Ricky fell to a defeat in the last few overs, however with 6 wickets in hand, the Hatfield team were just making sure of matters.

It was a much changed Ricky 2nd XI, with the first team taking up 3 key players and others missing through holidays and illness. Only 5 players were the same as the previous week. Robin got off to a good start getting 20 and Ramesh a decent 15, but it was youngster Bilal Hassan who shone with the bat getting a well crafted 47 Lekshay also got 17 and at 87 for 3, Ricky looked well set for a score perhaps approaching 200. However the middle order fell away and it was left to Harish to hit 20 and keep the tail together. One mystery was why the umpires and players wouldnt allow him a runner when he pulled a hamstring on 14. There is nothing in the law to stop this (only in Internationals) and since it was a friendly, it was very unfair of Hatfield to pull a rather mean trick.

Ricky eventually reached 175, which seemed good on paper, but probably a few short.

Yash bowled well in reply, with only 15 coming off his 7 overs. And 'Uncle' Azhar also bowled 9 overs for 17. But Hatfield knew they only needed under 4 an over to win and they determined to bat all day if needs be. In total Waheed tried 8 bowlers, which was very fair of him, but nothing else paid off and the Hatfield team ran out easy winners in the end.

Ricky sit bottom of the table, but have competed well in every game so far and will come good soon. MOM is Bilal for his 47 and one wicket.