Going South - 2s Lose Again

We were without a recognised wicketkeeper, the team rock star or any idea where the fifth set of nine overs might come from, but we had Vik (or Sachin as the South lads call him - apparently it's his real name, not a comment on his batting) back and we'd beaten the Club Formerly Known as Mitre fairly comfortably earlier in the season, so there were still grounds for optimism.

Misplaced as, while HX again won the triple-header 2-1, we were the 1 this time. South were a far stronger side than earlier in the season and racked up 246 for 5, led by Welsh (75 no) in an innings full of well-timed legside shots, but with almost all the batsmen making a contribution. Of course as ever there were things to enjoy and admire in our performance in the field. Smudger as our second stand-in keeper took an excellent stumping to get rid of the usually obdurate Rupani; Vik (9-2-31-1), as usual at this level, bowled too well to get the wickets he deserved, if you see what I mean; and Andy Donaldson in his first bowl for the club and Moneeb Shazhad (the lesser known youngest brother) in his first game both performed splendidly. But we conceded five runs to a hat-hit for the second time this year and dropped several catches for what seems like the umpteenth (I originally typed "numpteenth" there - appropriate). Not good.

Which leads me nicely on to our batting. Ziggy (32) looked in good touch even after he pulled a muscle and required the "running" assistance of JB who had earlier made 20-odd. Elmondt and Andy wagged the tail a bit with some healthy biffing. But, finishing on 126 all out, we only just managed to pass half our opponents' score and again missed out on batting points that may prove important at the end of the season.

Congratulations to South on a comprehensive victory and especially to Farhan Sheikh (8.2-2-20-6) for his career-best bowling figures, the second year running that a South bowler has taken a sixfer at Arbo. Thanks to them too for a game played in good spirits and good humour.

As for us - must do better, starting on Saturday.