Deja Vu
A week on but same place and same result.
This week Ivanhoe were inserted during a time game. GWR’s opening bowlers were swift though a little erratic so the score kept moving. Nevertheless they induced a rare failure from Evans (6), followed by Glen (2), who had enjoyed a promising start. Opener Jaleel AL-DARRAGH, making his Ives debut soon settled in and with Collins put on 49. All Darragh was just in the process of taking apart the leg spinner when he pulled a ball to mid on, departing for a very valuable 44, leaving the feeling that Ives could have done with him batting for another 5-10 overs. With boundaries hard to come by on a pitch (reused from last week) the score moved on at c 4 an over. Useful contributions from Parnell (Malc) (20) and Woodcock (11) with Collins unbeaten on 41 brought up 170 –7 (4 more than last week).
Again the bowlers started very well with useful spells from Hausler, Woodcock, Evans and Parnell’s R and MA. Good catches from Parnell R, Woodcock and Collins gave hope but as always catches are the key and unlike last week the fielding was flawed with a missed stumping and too many chances going begging. With the GWR century maker from last year progressing to an aggressive half century the returning bowlers could not contain the batsmen and in the end GWR won with a couple of overs to spare.
Overall a good match with some promise but we must get the basics right (i.e. catches) if we are to turn near things to positive results.
To end on the positive.. the opposition were a great bunch to play against – absolutely the right spirit – and teas from Joe and Ciaran went down well.. with sandwiches left over .. a rare event.
Man of the Match : Jaleel AL-DARRAGH