Well paced chase gets the Village the 30 points

After winning the toss I uncharacteristically chose to field. The strength of the Village batting line up (missing Ali Sayed, Shahme Farook, Gaurav and Yash) and the cloudy muggy conditions looked as if it was the correct thing to do, even if it could have backfired badly in terms of points had we not won.

With only 8 players (as usual) by 12.55 the options of who to open the bowling alongside Ajay weren't obvious. Farhan had gone for 40 from 2 overs the week before (only managing to pitch one ball out of 17) and Ammar had been a little wayward 2 weeks previously. On discussing the options with Joe, I decided to go with my gut instinct and threw the ball to Shaun who had yet to bowl this year.

After a tidy start from Ajay in the first over Shaun then bowled 5 overs without going for a single run off the bat. A combination of bamboozling lines and lengths coupled with a very slow wicket meant that the boyo from Scotland was unplayable. Eventually the pressure told and the opener tried to hit over the top only succeeding in picking out the fielder at mid wicket - only for Farhan to drop a sitter. Unfortunately that wasn't the first or the last dropped catch of the day. Earlier Ajay had picked up the first wicket inducing a thin edge to myself, before finding the edge again where I went for a ball heading straight for Chris O'Brien at first slip, only to shell the attempt one handed. Fortunately that drop along with the other three times we managed to drop the opposition captain didn't cost too much as Ajay decided to stop relying on fielders and hit the stumps instead. At 25-3 and again at 44-4 it was looking as if an early finish was on the cards, however the number 4 was riding his luck (Shaun unluckily forcing an early slog across the line and watching as the ball spun into the stumps without dislodging the bails). Another two dropped catches by COB and debutant Stefan continued to let Stevenage off the hook, although Farhan and Piers did partially make up for their earlier drops by taking two catches.

The dropped catches deflated the Village at this point and a period of about 8 overs ensued with no real drive from us to make something happen. Stefan bowled tidily enough and Faiz also, however neither was looking particularly threatening. A bowling change however did the trick with Ajay coming back and then Ammar coming on for his first spell picking up the final 5 wickets in rapid succession, Ajay finishing with 6-35.

A bizarre rule of no meat on the school grounds meant we were forced into having a vegetarian tea (which apparently wasn't supposed to contain tuna but did). Somewhat unfulfilled and missing a good old cuppa (squash only...).

At the turnaround we needed 143 off a maximum of 44 overs. With Piers and myself starting off we started to accumulate rather than take risks, a strategy that was working well, in particular the running between the wickets that put fielders under pressure. The partnership was nearing 50 when both Piers and I were dropped, (myself inexplicably and Piers off a tough chance). With 3 balls until drinks and with the total more than half way to the total I mishit one to short cover where the oppo skipper took a good low catch (75-1). At this point we were well placed with plenty of batting still to come. Dan Butcher came in and continued to run well between the wickets.

Piers then received a good ball to depart for a well made 43 (85-2) bringing in Joe Sheridan for his first appearance of the season. Unfortunately for Joe he looked like it was his first appearance of the season and he played one onto the stumps after not moving his feet (92-3). Stef came in and was looking ok until he walked across his stumps only to let the ball cannon into his pads to give Piers a straightforward decision. Dan then played an uncharacteristic mow across the line to depart for 22 and at 133-6 we were all of a sudden under pressure. Fortunately we had the wise and very loud old sage Chris O'Brien at the crease. Faiz has shown in the previous couple of games that he is also a more than capable batsman and as it turned out the worries were unnecessary as they got us over the line with over 3 overs to spare.

All in all a good win considering the strength of the side we had out. We will come up against tougher oppositions, but as the saying goes, you can only beat what's put in front of you.