FIRST XI MATCH REPORT SATURDAY 4th JUNE VS TWYFORD HOUSE (A)

his Saturday, the First XI travelled to Twyford House on a day that looked good for bowling. Last year, we had lost twice in both rain-affected games against Twyford and so the psychological edge was certainly in their favour. However, with our overseas player Parag Khanapurkar, Little Miss Magic, arriving in the week, the team had a boost of confidence knowing that we had gained an exceptional player. When the toss went up, the LWT maintained his record as a useless tosser yet we were surprised when we were put into the field first. This time a shout of ‘that’s a good one to lose skip’ was appropriate, but I made sure to keep my mouth shut.

Opening up with Mr. Strong and Mr. Tickle, it was Whitemore who made the early inroad, snicking off the opener through to Mr. Bump for a quacker. Both managed to beat the bat frequently, as a few dead flies were found and the base of the stumps from one end. After the opening 10, Twyford were 38-1 and then it was time for some spin with Little Miss Show-Off going about his work, stopping the flow of runs. As he found his rhythm it was Mr. Tall, Chris Bolton, who took the second wicket reducing them to 62-2. This brought Brislington arch nemesis Richard Trotman to the crease. Whilst Mr. Tickle was eulogising over his previous exploits against the BS4, he started scratchy as Bolton and Ayres built the pressure bowling tight lines. As the partnership built, we were disciplined and patient in the field, with catches just dropping short and appeals being turned down all we needed was a bit of luck before the skipper turned into Mr. Angry.

Approaching drinks, PK had come into the attack and at 93-2 from 25 overs the game was evenly poised. With two set players Twyford started to take their chances progressing the game along. Little Miss Chatterbox, Cameron George, was particularly unlucky, beating the bat as he was asked to do the hard yards by bowling from both ends. As Rhys continued to rotate, it was unfortunately Little Miss Show Off who put his hand up and took the vital wickets of both Shetty (58) and Trotman (73). After the two quick wickets with Twyford 179-4, there was still a lot to do in order to restrict them under 250. Mr. Strong returned and started to finally bowl quickly, smelling the blood of some lower order victims. After bottling a hat trick, Mr Strong and Little Miss Show Off ended up with 8 wickets between them as Twyford were bowled out for 210. At half time, we were pretty happy with the way we had fought back into the game, with the par score on the pitch probably a bit higher at around 225, but the prospect of the short straight boundaries adding a few more.

In response, Bris started with Mr. Perfect and Mr. Quiet. A solid base was built, with Thomas hitting the shot of the day, hitting the fast bowler over his head into the tallest tree for a huge six. Brain played a similar shot, but at the other end to the short boundary, and it only just crept over. And it was a half volley. At 48-0 from 10 overs everything was going well as we peppered the cover boundary. In quick succession both openers Thomas (30) and Brain (25) fell to questionable decisions. But now it was time to give the people what they wanted to see with Little Miss Magic and Little Miss Show Off (PK and Milo) batting together. It promised so much with a great partnership of 62, as Little Miss Magic adjusted to conditions quickly, sweeping sixes and punching the ball over the top of the infield. When he returned to the pavilion for a well made 33, Twyford tightened the screw. The bowlers were on top as scoring was made to be difficult, with the middle order of Mr. Strong, Mr. Muddle and Mr. Bump all losing their wickets.

Mr. Tall, Chris Bolton, came to the crease and with Bris needing 50 to win with 3 wickets in hand, he provided some momentum to the chase by driving the seamers well straight and through extra cover. Skipper Grove fell for 5, as the run rate grew to a run-a-ball. With Little Miss Chatterbox at 10 we still had a chance, as George and Bolton combined to run well between the wickets, picking off singles and bringing it down to 12 to win off 2 overs. In the penultimate over, Bris took 9, including a great boundary from Cam, leaving him on strike for the first ball of the last over. As the field came in, Cameron spotted a gap at square leg and as he went down to sweep the ball he was given out LBW. Mr Tickle to the crease and 3 from 5 balls. The tension grew around the ground as the ball was hit on the pads and they scrambled a leg bye. 2 from 4 as Mr. Tall hit the ball out to long off to secure the tie. All the field was in and when the run out fell from the last ball of the game resulting in a tie it was the second time this season that the First XI had been involved in an absolute ripsnorter of a game.

To put ourselves in that position to take the game deep, as we had done vs Keynsham, can only be a positive as we pick up 14 points going into a nice stretch of games. As Milo had said at Half Time, a few years ago we would’ve ended up trying to chase 300 as we watched what would’ve nearly seemed like another inevitable Trotman hundred, but to hang in there and get to the point where you have a good chance in the last over was an improvement.

MOTM: Milo Ayres, aka Little Miss Show Off with 43 and 4-29.

Captains thoughts: A hard fought battle between 2 good sides, it’s great to see where we have come from over the last couple of years where we haven’t been competing with Twyford, with bat and ball we showed that we can compete with one of the best teams in this league and shouldn’t fear anyone we play against from here on.

It was a pleasure to have PK back in the side and he will really elevate the team to a new level this year!