Out-tossed, out-batted and out-bowled!
Chiswick Civil Service, Barnes, 7/9/2011
Gaieties won by 7 wickets
Strongroom: 114
Gaieties: 118-3 [O.ingram 59*]
View the Scorecard
I lost the toss again, and Hugo decided to put us in on a very green but firm surface, and heavy cloud cover overhead. We were fielding another weak batting team, so I was slightly concerned about batting first. Initially the omens looked good, as Woolhouse and Vollebregt negotiated the opening overs from Cowley and Burton with relative ease, but then Rich dragged one from Cowley onto his stumps, shortly followed by an LBW against Dave Gower. Wickets then fell steadily, and in no time we were about 40-6. Fortunately, we were saved from total humiliation by a feisty stand between Sumer (29*) and Siam (32), who both counter-attacked with gusto. At one stage there were mutterings of ‘140’ and ‘150’ being both possible and defendable, but another cluster of wickets saw us disappointingly fold for 114.
Tea: A boring selection of egg sandwiches, blueberry muffins and tea in polystyrene cups.
Early wickets were essential, and in Zorain we had a potent weapon. Fairly quickly he snared two wickets, Crowe caught sharply by Khangura behind square (a specialist position for Zorain), and Cowley clean bowled in typical Zorro style. However, Schneider was proving hard to dislodge, and Gaieities eventual victory owed as much to his defensive skill as it did to the youthful (and unconventional) batting from Ingram. In particular, Zorain and Schneider played out a fascinating duel, both men locked in an ultimately even battle of attack and defence. Siam, Rich and Sumer all struggled to find any rhythm, and were hammered for 77 off their 10 overs collectively, mostly off the whirring blade of Ingram. Karan Katariya bowled a nice, lively spell towards the end, but ultimately we were 90-100 runs short. Batting had seemingly become easier in the second innings, but this should take nothing away from the fact that Gaieties simply played the better cricket.
Written By: J.Gower
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