Following last week's defeat, a must win game against Great Waltham took place at Great Braxted. John continued as captain in Tim's absence in the 1s. (Remember Tim? He's the 3s captain, in case you haven't seen him for a while.)
John left the toss to Owen, as domestic duties were a priority. Owen had one job to do, win the toss & field first. Guess what, he loses the toss & Great Waltham, a team who like to bat first, opted to field. Dicko & Nick opened, & Dicko tried hard to get out, succeeding before too long, although he did benefit from a fielder's throw straight up into the tree!
Ricky was in at 3, his first game for while. Ricky started well, but, sadly, played on & we were 2 down. One ball later & we were 3 down, Max W having missed the ball, so Jacob went in at 5. Nick followed soon after & Tickle joined Jacob, we were 22 for 4 & Great Waltham were feeling good.
Jacob batted as he normally does, defensively sound, quick between the wickets & punishing the bad ball. Tickle had a bit of luck , but then gained in confidence & began to show what we all thought he had, but had been hiding it for a while. Tickle started to hit the ball harder & defended technically better. The 2 youngsters were taking singles & 2s, putting the opposition under pressure. A 50 partnership ensued & Great Waltham's spirits only rose when Tickle was out, bringing John to the crease. A 30 partnership was created at a rapid pace, until John was caught out, followed by a 40 partnership from Banny & Jacob, who reached his 50 & was playing well, with no danger of being out. Goochie almost cracked a smile at his grandson's performance, but then thought better of it.
Owen came in to bat next. At his last game he enjoyed the celery on offer, informing his team mates of the benfits of salad. However, the effect might have been instant as Owens' trousers seemed to be the wrong fit. He tried to adjust them, pull them up, twist them around a bit, pull up only one side & re-dress completely. (ps - on Sunday,thanks to the technical brilliance of live streaming at Great Waltham, I am sure that Owen was wearing the same trousers again. But, the scorecard indicated a batsman with a slightly different build, so I could be mistaken!)
Back to the cricket, Banny then took control, with Owen offering good support. Danny & Max C also supported Banny as he finished up just short of 40 & a score of 189 gave us a real chance of a win.
Teas were a treat, courtesy of Tickle & Max W.
As Great Waltham had some very experienced batsmen, who like a bit of pace on the ball, Owen & John opened the bowling. John was economical, but it was Owen, who seemed to have his bowling trousers on, who caused the damage, having the opener in all sorts of trouble, eventually trapping him LBW. Not too long after this, the other opener went the same way. The Great Waltham captain took a liking to Owen, so Max C came on to bowl.
Danny took over from John &, yet again, showed his pace. he was too quick for the batsmen & the only runs were coming from big edges. Max C found his rythm & bowled some really good deliveries. Danny then had the Great Waltham captain caught by Ricky & Max got a plumb LBW. We were definitely on top & the run rate had risen. But, Great Waltham had other ideas. Another experienced Great Waltham batsman came in & there were many years of experience at the crease. Both did well, but Danny & Max C kept the run rate down & the pressure continued on Great Waltham.
Owen returned & made the breakthrough, for his 3rd wicket. John took over from Danny to finish off his overs. We got to the the latter stages of the game & Banny & Max C had to bowl the final 8 overs, with Great Waltham faced with 7 an over for victory.
Initially, Great Waltham had a couple of good overs, as Banny tried to fool the batsmen with a few short pitched deliveries. However, Banny joined forces with Jacob & 2 stumpings & a catch later Jacob had helped Banny to 3 wickets. The run rate kept going up & the wickets took the game back to us. Max C took another wicket & Banny bowled the last over, with Great Waltham needing 18.
This was a much needed victory, over a team that are near the top of the table. A big factor in the victory was our fielding, which was excellent, especially by Max W & Tickle, whose speed in the outfield was terrific.
With 2 games to go, we are not yet mathematically safe & we are playing the league leaders next week & the 3rd placed team in the final game of the season. But, this victory should give us confidence for these games.
