3's lose again as batting woes continue

The 3's were at home against Parkfield & Headstone 2's.

The skipper won the toss and asked the oppo to bat first.

George Leggett (1-32) and Andrew Godfrey (1-34) started the bowling and both had instance success. First George had the number 1 batsman caught at gully by Chalky who took a sharp chance. In the next over Godders then had the number 2 batsman caught in the covers by Farzan Dulker Nain to leave the oppo 0-2. The number 3 and 4 batsman for the oppo went about repairing the innings and did so by taking the attack to the Village. There was a mixture of good fortune and some wayward bowling that let the oppo off the hook as the runs began to flow with both batsman passing 50. Dan Penny (4-62) and Dave Jackson (1-50) took over the bowling from the youngster to try and give the skipper some control but the runs kept coming. Eventually the 3rd wicket fell off the bowling of DJ with Dan Penny taking a catch in the deep. Dan then got the first of his wickets trapping the number 5 batsman LBW. His next over produced 2 wickets both of which were bowled to leave him on a hat trick which the next batsman managed to keep out. Chalky Cara (3-9) replaced DJ and he produced an excellent spell. He got the number 3 batsman out and then the number 8 batsman thanks to a good catch from DJ and then next ball got the number 9 out LBW to leave the Village on the verge of another hat trick. Just like Dan he couldn't get the wicket and so it was left to Dan Penny to bowl the number 10 to leave the oppo 187 all out in only 32 overs leaving the Village 48 overs to reach their target.

James Thompson (8) and Dave Jackson (9) opened the batting for the Village with 10 overs to face before tea. The skipper hit the first ball for four through the covers and both were being patient looking not to lose any wickets before the tea break. James was first to go as he was bowled with a ball that pitched outside off and just clipping his leg stump. Farzan Dulker Nain (9) was next man in and hit a four before being given out LBW after getting the faintest of touches with his bat. Femi Erbahor (0) then joined Dave at the crease and the next over saw Dave knick one to the slips. Mohamed Salahudeen (24) joined Femi but Femi was next out LBW to bring Graham Leggett (4) to the crease and after hitting a boundary and with the last ball before tea he was bowled to leave the Village 40-5 after 10. Dan Penny (20) joined Mohamed at the crease and the pair looked to somehow rebuild the innings after another collapse from the top order. Both were looking to remain solid and try to tick the scoreboard along. The pair were keeping up with the rate and knew that a good partnership along with the number of overs that remained gave the Village a small chance. Both batsman were beginning to find the boundary but Mohamed was next out being trapped LBW. George Leggett (4) scored a boundary but was caught bringing Chalky Cara (11) to the crease. He was starting to open up and managed to get a couple of boundaries before he was caught. Dan had amassed 20 before he was next out caught at cover. Andrew Godfrey (36) who had joined Dan had started slowly picking up singles before he started to open his arms up to crash some boundaries, one of which was a 6 over cow corner. Afshin Yazdi (16*) had joined Godders and he was looking solid and was picking up a few boundaries. The oppo were starting to get a bit nervous as the 2 hung around and ticked the scoreboard over. Godders was starting to enjoy himself and with only 30 runs to win with 13 overs left the win was a possibility until Godders went for one more big hit and was caught.

A disappointing performance in the end with the bowling getting hit to all parts with only Chalky and Dan after his first 2 overs showing control and the ability to take wickets. Again the batting let the team down and we need to address this if we want to have a decent season. Only Godders big hitting at the end got the Village close to the target but it was never enough.