Beehive [H] Match Report
The one full of 'if onlys'.
Twas but a beautiful day yet again, overcast but hot. The kind of summer's day where you sweat when standing still (speaking from personal experience whilst umpiring).
The air was brimming with a concoction of both moisture and hope.
And before a ball was bowled, the first 'if only' arrived with a loss at the toss, as we were put into bat by our visiting Beehive opponents. With the overcast conditions and the wicket looking as it did, we thought this was a solid call from their side. The opening couple of overs looked brilliant, with our formidable opener in Paddy striking a beautiful cover drive off the opening ball and not troubling the fielders as it went away for 4. We were off to a flyer, with 16 runs off the first two overs. Game on.
With some good shot play and positive running, Chris sent the first chance back to the bowler who caught it on his follow through... if only he'd dropped it.
We pushed on and kept the score ticking over on par with the opposition taking wickets at reasonably regular intervals. Sean had another solid knock hitting some boundaries with Warwick striking a few himself at the other end. The final 2 overs of our innings did not go to plan, with a maidan followed by 1 or 2 runs off the final over as we took our total to 130/7 off 30 overs.
Fresh off making enough teas for 7 teams, Al opened from The Bell End with a spell which any bowler would be jealous of. One of their openers tried to replicate Paddy's cover drive, but they gave it just enough air for Warwick to take a great catch at cover... the perfect start! At the other end, if only, I'd been more consistent, if only, I'd not been hit for six on the shorter boundary, if only, that lbw shout was given. But my wayward appearance with the ball brought Sarath into the action to rightly try and stop the flow of runs. Overs filled with jaffas, some near misses and plenty of movement earned solid rewards with a clutch of wickets. Meanwhile Al finished off his 6 overs with just 16 runs against name... game on.
We hit the 10th over on par with the opposition on 44 (ish) runs. As the overs ticked on, so did the wickets and we found ourselves in the difficult position of trying to hold two of their batters at the crease as the run rate slowed. Drinks at 15 overs and it really was game on as the opposition sat in the 70s but with a slowing run rate. We knew if we could stop this pair from scoring that they'd eventually get desperate and the wicket would follow. During the 20th Paddy made a breakthrough, clean bowled... beautiful. Around this same point Warwick snook in a full toss and a perfect miss-cue from the batsman meant Chris just needed to get under it... not an easy catch as it went away and backwards from him, but a solid take none the less, especially with one pad hanging off due to a broken strap... game REALLY on.
Each bowler put in the hard yards to keep the score right down, with Sean, Paddy and Yuvi also having great spells with the red leather. The overs keep ticking down almost in par with the required score, it was tight, we all knew it, but there was confidence in the air.
We fielded brilliantly, everyone put a shift in in the heat and put their bodies on the line and we didn't leak runs. Malcolm was so confident he even had a little snooze. If only Paddy had been able to take a pearl at deep mid wicket, if only, Al had been able to hold on to the rebound fielding at point. And, if only, two balls later the one over my head at square leg had stuck in my hands. None where meant to be, but the game was far from done...
Sarath's return earned a much needed wicket at the perfect moment as we approached the final two overs with it still all to play for. With a new batsman at the crease there was every chance and with Yuvi bowling his final over we kept it tight with a series of dot balls when we needed them. If only, the run out opportunity was a direct hit and hadn't resulted in overthrow runs.
The final over was tight, still in the balance and on the second delivery the ball came my way, I saw it cleanly and early and ran towards it will full confidence (mistake), I felt certain it was going to land perfectly in my lap, but as I neared the ball, it got nervous and died on me, so much so I didn't even get a finger tip to it. If only I'd gone backwards not forwards.
If only.
Despite the end result, we played well with positives across the board. We play Beehive again on 16th July... don't miss it!
(The heat may have affected my memory, comments may not be true to real events).
Next week we face a new team in Potterne, at home. Lets go.