IBMSHCC vs Brookfield School Staff
First midweek game of the season saw us take to the field at Brookfield School and their artificial track. We fielded first, because the opposition only had 9 players at the start, so we felt it was fair that way, hehe ;) We also reduced the overs to 18 as we were a bit late starting.
Now, the thing with midweek games is that it's a bit of fun and I usually view them as an opportunity to mix things up a bit, so I gave 9 people a bowl, hehe :) Phil and Shripal resumed their partnership from Sunday, but this time with the ball instead of the bat and they kept the score down in the first 5 overs very well, they were 18-1 after 5 overs.
Sanjay Behl and Oliver Whittaker were on next and had a couple of overs each, again, limiting the score nicely. I was on next and Mel (a normal Saturday player) hit me for a few fours before he had to retire as he'd gone past 25 runs. Kunal was on at the other end and was bowling ok ... at least as well as he could on an artificial track ... his over saw their opener retire on 28.
My second over was better and was actually a wicket maiden as I enduced their batsman to sky one to mid on :) Kunal completed his 2nd over and was replaced by Ian Blair who went for 10 from his 1 over before Dharmesh had a crack and only went for 2 runs. I had a 3rd over, but went for a few more runs (finishing on 3 overs 1 maiden 22 runs 1 wicket) and Paul Hawkins replaced me and promptly took 2 wickets in his first over and completed the final over and finishing with 2 for 13 :)
They'd scored 99 for 5 in their 18 overs, which was a pretty achievable target.
Again, I wanted to mix things up a bit and also give a few people a bat ... so Paul and Kunal opened, although Paul didn't last long, getting bowled in the first over for 4. Ragnar was next out and the progress was slow over the next few overs, before he fell to a cracking yorker for 9. Ian Blair was next out and he looked very comfortable on his way to 25 not out (retired). Kunal was supporting him well before he fell to an excellent catch in the covers for 17. Pete Rowson was soon out there hitting a few lusty blows before he too had to retire on 25 not out. Dharmesh only made 1 before getting out via LBW and it was then up to me and Olly to see us home, which we did with 2.1 overs to spare. I finished on 3 not out :)
So, a 6 wicket victory. Everyone got to do something and it was a good fun game on a nice evening, even if the sun was a bit in your face!