We may have lost to S&S Penicuik, but I was so proud
of the team's performance yesterday; it was full of positives - on both sides,
and Penicuik scraped through with 3 balls to spare. Penicuik did a fine job to
make it playable - the picture of a pond on the square at 8am was remarkable.
Penicuik felt that winning the toss was a big factor in
this 30 over match. Their opening bowlers were very accurate indeed and Tom
batted well even though he managed only 3 in 36 balls. They bowled their 6
overs max each right through leaving us 22-4 after 12 overs including 7
maidens. Julius led us on the road to recovery with a superb 43 off 29 balls
including eight fours. Zia and Kashif gave valuable support (14 & 16),
hitting 3 sixes between them. It was great to see how our batsmen could put
away the bad ball. Then Shifty (12), all-rounder Robin (10) and Brian (5*) kept
us going, to achieve maximum batting points - wonderful how players step up to
the task - Brian faced 5 balls and scored from them all. 28 extras were valuable
additions to the score. We had no umpires and we did not shirk our duty in
giving decisions, however painful - well done!
Penicuik went much faster than us early on but they were
taking chances. Robin demolished Sean Taylor's stumps spectacularly, and at the
14th over they pushed along to 63-1. Then Shifty very niftily stumped Chris
Cash off Dougie, who bowled excellently taking a wicket for a single in his
first 3 overs. Kashif was brilliant in conceding just 14 from his 6 overs, and
Zia too showed the value of slow stuff. The problem was that both Kris Steel
and Stuart Chalmers are class batsmen and despite falling behind on the run
rate, they had the patience to wait till the final few overs. We didn't drop
catches, fielded very well, and we bowled very few wides, and Raja captained
excellently, motivate the team well and put the fielders in the right places.
So a loss, yes, but a brilliant match, an advert
for Championship cricket - just a pity they had the experience to pace it
right. We will surprise someone soon, and it could well be Glenrothes next week
who were given the fright of their life yesterday when Grange 2 were 55-0
chasing 89 and lost...or the surprise may be Tuesday against RHC who are really
struggling without Cameron Leeder.
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