First home game of 2022 and we couldn't have asked for a better day for it! Beautiful blue skies but unfortunate for us Nob lost the toss and we were out bowling at the Tillingham 10. Sam Bowen, Drew and Cooper came into the side replacing Henge, Tommy and Ed and it was Sam alongside Pooky to take the new ball. Tillinghams opening bat seemed to be everyone's best mate, particularly fond of Nick, who might have been asked for his number had he not ran away very quickly after his bat! Our best mate swung hard at alot, occasionally connected and definitely frustrated while his partner batted more sensibly. No joy for our opening bowlers so JFH and Cheesey were brought on early to try and get things going, JFH upsetting Nick by getting rid of his mate, bamboozled by one that did nothing, not even pitching. From there however we generally bowled poorly and our fielding didn't match up to the previous week, including 2 drops that should have been taken. JFH snuck another at the end of an awful over, Pooky catching one that should have ended up at the church, but by this point Tillingham had a very good score lined up. Our main plus points were RK who came on and took 3, including 2 in an over and bowled very nicely at a difficult time, and Drew who kept going in the field and one of few who was faultless. At the end of the 45 after some big hits and miss hits that all seemed to find the boundary, we were left a 330 chase.
Tea Rating: highlight was a very good Chilli with Nachos, plenty of sausage rolls, Nuggets and cakes, not so much for the vegetarians 7/10
Nob and Cooper opened the response, which I mostly missed having bagged washing up duty. From what I heard, Harry set off like a train, making sure we were up with the rate from the go, his 33 coming from just 18 before dismissed from what was heard as 'a great nut'. Nick came to join Nobby, who was trying to emulate Coooper with mixed success, and kept things moving before Nick was dismissed bringing Pook in. The one week where Pook would have been forgiven for swinging from ball 1 as we've seen before became the first time this year we've seen some proper and excellent shots until he fell, the first of 5 wickets for Tillinghams impressive left arm spinner. Nob passed 50, but wickets begun to tumble and the focus went from chasing 330 to getting as much respectability out of the day as we could, little did we know the entertainment we were about to get. Rob fell for 77, FGA couldn't copy his magic the week before, while Drew, Sam B, RK and JFH fell cheaply, leaving us 9 down, 5 runs needed for the last batting point and Cheesey joining Pidge who was 3 not out. Once the point was secured, Pidge treated us to some wonderful stroke making, particularly excelling down the ground and through the covers, and found himself on 40 with an over to play, by far his highest one's score today and easily his quickest innings! He expertly whittled that to 48, helped by a beautiful Cheesey indoor shot single to get him strike, and had 1 ball to get to 50. Annoyingly, the Tillingham captain wasn't playing the game, brought the field right up, and Jack's shot to mid off wasn't enough to allow Cheese to make it back for the needed 2, leaving Pidge 49 not out, but a brilliant effort.
In truth, we were never truly in the game, sloppiness crept in and luck went against us, but a chance next week to put it right.
MoM: Jack Ridge
