With the temperature in the 30’s not a day to find yourself in the field with only 5 bowlers at skipper Bob’s disposal first but that was the situation that Ive’s faced after losing the toss.
Bob took the view correctly to bowl all the bowlers in short bursts with Richard opening with Denis. On a wicket offering very little to the bowlers Denis struggled with his line in this spell but came back well later in the innings to finish with 3 for 39 from 8 overs aided by catches by Andy C, Malcolm and a caught and bowled. Richard bowled tightly in both his spells without any luck, conceding only 22 runs in his 8 overs as wickets early on were hard to come by with the first not falling until 49 were on the board and the second at 124 at which point a score well in excess of 200 looked likely for Old Citizens. However following Den’s intervention the scoring rate dropped and aided by a wicket for Lawrence (1 for 32 in 8 overs), Andy C (1 for 56) and Ciaran (0 for 36) and with two run outs Old Citizens declared at tea on 189 for 7.
The effects of fielding in the hot conditions quickly showed as Ives reply got off to the worse possible start with Earle and Andy H departing early with only 2 on the board followed by Malcolm (9) at 23. Three further quick wickets fell to leave Ives on 36 for 6 and facing a heavy defeat. However Phil K (8) and Richard put on 57 for the seventh wicket and with Richard scoring his first 50 for the club before departing with one ball of the innings to go, Ives achieved a draw as Lawrence (5no) and Ciaran (1no) saw the innings home on 114 for 7.