With the season quickly drawing to a close, the 2’s welcomed Rainham to Bull Meadow, having beaten their guests earlier on in the season.
We were invited to bat after losing the toss and inevitably found ourselves 60-3 as we always do, thanks to rash shots from both Stroker and John, whereas Phipps, who had found some form picked out the mid wicket fielder with his third pull in a row. Snail and Nob once again rebuilt but when Snail departed, trapped LBW for 23, we were in a bit of trouble at 131-5 from 30. Dicko dropped anchor for a while before unleashing a couple of big hits and Nob continued to find gaps, some by luck and some by judgement. The wicket was two-paced and hitting straight was tough, as was building partnership, the highest one of the innings being 58. Some good hits at the end from George and Olly saw us finish on 225-9 and we were reasonably pleased considering our start.
The Phillips family did Tea this week, Nick’s only involvement was to pay but mum, wife and kids did a great job, an extensive cake selection (some homemade) and Stroker had three helpings to make up for his duck and ensure he got his monies worth. 9/10
We needed to start well and get early wickets and that’s exactly what DQ did, two in his first two overs, one was an excellent catch from Drew at slip, parrying it before catching it one handed as he fell. George joined the party soon after and with 10 overs gone Rainham were 51-3. Jon and Jonny Hewer were introduced and reduced the run rate, just two boundaries being scored in the next 14 overs, however crucially just the 1 wicket. At drinks the visitors were 92-4, requiring 134 from 22, meaning the game was in our control and the talk was to field well and create pressure. The exact opposite happened; the Hewer’s dropped catches which they really should be taking and others let balls through legs and bounce off them for 4. We had gone from being in control to being behind. Kendall took the wicket of Crotch but Little joined Knowleden, who played the anchor role, with Little being the aggressor. He rode his luck, hit some good shots and benefited from our generosity leaving just 14 required from the last 4 overs. Despite our best efforts, Rainham knocked off the winning runs with just 8 balls left and we were left to lick our wounds from our first defeat for 9 games.
A disappointing display all round. Giving wickets away early in the innings and putting pressure on the middle order again, bowling 22 wides is very poor, as was some of our fielding and catching. The effort can’t be faulted, but concentration levels were not what they should be. We need to win the last 3 games to get promotion, it is now as simple as that.
