Well, we made that rather difficult for ourselves today, didn’t we?
Another good team bowling display restricted Thame III to 151/9 from their 45 overs. Jamie Bates struck twice early on as Thame started slowly but the visitors had threatened to post a good deal more than this as they reached 90/2. Two wickets in Joe Elliott’s first two balls slowed things down (and it was very nearly three…) before Calvin Evans bowled Thame’s number four and the run-rate dried up. Cally finished with 3/42 and Joe 4/34.
We got off to a flying start, with Phil Wood seemingly taking great pleasure from calling somebody else for bowling no-balls for a change, as Ali Noble and Nathan Dales saw us to 50 without loss in eight overs. At this point, the wheels all fell off rather spectacularly, and I went from wondering if I’d need to bat, to wondering when I’d have to bat, to ditching the umpire’s coat and trying to figure out where I’d left my spikes. 54/0 became 82/7 in rather short order, and I told Jamie that now was the perfect time to stop telling me he could bat and start showing it instead.
We endured six overs of truly awful chat as Thame’s number three attempted to contribute something other than backing away to straight bowling to the afternoon, but as the flurry of wickets dried up, and both of us cleared the boundary, the chat disappeared too. I will admit that Jamie’s six was better. We added 57 for the eighth wicket before I dragged one onto leg stump, but Woody was the man for moment, and he and Jamie saw us home, much to last man Cally’s pleasure.
25 more points – well played all. We’ve won the last two games from difficult positions and I think that says a lot.
Next week is Twyford III – at Bicester & North Oxford.
http://www.cherwellcricketleague.com/scorecard.php?Match_ID=5736
