2s go 2 and 2

Smudge won the toss for the fourth time this season and surprised us all by opting to bat, possibly the first time he's ever done this voluntarily.

A slightly wayward first over from Wilcock brought nine runs, mostly in extras. But then Wilcock (9-1-17-1) and ex-Muffer Ian Martin (9-1-28-1) bowled excellent, tight spells and the runs dried up.  Bates (19) and Welsh (28) upped the pace, but Faisal Anwar seemed to be putting Livi on top as his well-flighted off-spin accounted for Jon and Dan as well as Candlish and Buchanan.

Fazzy's dismissal left both batsman (embarrassed) and bowler (injured) rolling on the floor and gave a clue that Livi might be nine overs short with both Anwar (9-1-28-4) and Balasubramanian finishing their spells despite leg injuries. Butt (33 largely from wristy cuts) and Ghafoor (17 largely from legside clumps) rebuilt the HX innings, but when Abdul fell to the first ball of the 39th over, we were in danger of falling short of a really good total.

In their very different ways the occasional bowlers Lancaster (2.5-1-3-1) and Ghaffar (4-0-30-3) did fine jobs for their team, but Andy Killey (27) pushed the score on and we finished on 185 with a ball to spare.

With runs on the board, the skipper attacked from the outset and a combination of some waywardness, some good fortune and some fine shots had Livi in a good position after the first dozen or so overs with Wilcock (28) and Lancaster (62) looking increasingly assured.

But the introduction of Lohan (9-0-20-3) and Smith (9-1-30-0) turned the game as the run rate fell and wickets began to follow, aided by some sound catching. Ghafoor (8-1-17-2) bowled a skilful spell and Livi's last hope went when Welsh (4-2-9-3) removed Lancaster with a quicker one.

A good win that opens up a decent gap to the bottom three. Thanks to Livi for a game played in excellent spirits throughout and which was more competitive than the margin of victory suggests, especially before Irfan and Abdul came together and when Lancaster and Wilcock were batting.