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Game Comments
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Damo
29/08/2003 1:24:58 pm
Well that was certainly a pretty comprehensive win last night.
It was pleasing to see that even though they had no hope of reaching our score after their first 2 partnerships only managed 11 - we hung in there in the field and maintained the pressure. This secured us 4 extra points from the game - a clean sweep of the quad points! So a great effort in the field from everybody - we took a high percentage of our chances last night.
Batting was very solid throughout the entire team - all of the partnerships were over 20.
There were really no outstanding individual efforts last night - which just goes to show it was a really good all-round team performance - 5 of the 8 batsmen had a strike rate of over 100 which is excellent.
Good old Maverick was at it again - it's only his 3rd game back from injury and looks as though he might be out for another couple of weeks after a nasty twist of the ankle. I imagine he is on a first name basis with his Physio by now!
Personally...
I was very pleased with my bowling last night - it's nice to have a ball that's a bit roughed up and therefore has no swing at all. I aimed it at the stumps and a few of them hit - it was nice to be able to snatch that final quad point off them in the very last over.
Due to Barty's injury it hampered our batting a little bit and a couple of the outs could possilbly be attributed to his ankle (a long shot I know but it's not a bad excuse).
Callum
29/08/2003 1:35:35 pm
I lost the toss, and they elected to field first.
Batting:
Greg and Chan got us off to a fine start with a well-rounded 38. While there was a textbook (Chan's textbook that is) crossbat to a straight ball from Chan resulting in his being bowled, that was the partnership's only wicket. No run outs at all. A couple of backnets, but by and large the runs were gained by pushing the ball around and not getting out. Greg was hitting the ball quite straight and can count himself a little lucky not to be run out at all.
Gary and Simon batted well, though Gary's -2 could have been better. Both played sensible shots, Simon particularly so. Gary had 5 dot balls in his innings of 15 balls, which was unused potential for a few more runs. Still, a partnership of 20 gave us a chance at gaining this quad-point.
Steve and I started out uncharacteristically with a running mixup. Still, we settled into it nicely, with an innings of 41.
Damo and Bart batted a sensible partnership, seemingly content to push the ball around into the sidenets. It was paying off until the final over when the wheels fell off after Damo broke Bart with too much running. 25 from the final partnership, and we had four solid quads, but still our smallest total ever against the Madmen (124 this match, 175 and 160 previously).
Shoutout to Steve for his topscoring 18 off 13, which once again included no dot balls, and this time no wickets, all done on a dodgy knee!
Bowling:
I sensed a degree of urgency, or perhaps seriousness before we started. No-one was taking the result for granted, and we played with intensity.
Overs of 14 and 9 from myself and Simon were compensated for by Gary and Bart with -11 and 1 respectively. First partnership out for 13, and a quad-point secured.
Some all round good bowling would see the next partnership dismissed for -2, with 6 wickets taken for another quad secured.
Their third partnership was pretty competent, clocking up 32 despite losing four wickets. They were chasing the 41 Steve and I set, and with them on 35 with two balls to go I was feeling a little nervy - fortunately Greg would skittle the stumps, settling the issue.
With their last partnership needing 82 for the win, our thoughts turned to the quad, for which we needed to keep them under 25. Regrettably, we would concede 27 off the first three overs leaving Damon a target of -3 from his over. The rest as they say is history - four wickets from Damo's over, including an astounding 3 bowled.
Shoutout to Damo for two absolutely intense overs, with the second in the clutch. Minus 21 from two overs six wickets - 'tenacious D' you might say ;-)
Personally:
Not overly impressed with my bowling, particularly the 7th ball 7 which turned a tight over unlucky not to get a wicket into an expensive 14.
The first run-out was probably the most irksome, as it was so lame. The second seemed to happen in slow-mo and I knew it was coming - a huge 7 which put me off balance and well short of my ground when Bruce Almighty of the Backnet threw down the stumps. Perhaps unwisely, I sent a rocket into pretty much the same spot the next over, which he got a hand to, but couldn't stop. Still too many dot-balls in my innings for my liking - need to take a leaf out of Steve's batting manual.
Fielding-wise, I'm quite keen to practice throwing down the stumps from my knees. When I'm not in a normal throwing stance, it feels un-natural and I miss what should be some easy shots.
Generally:
Their team was probably slightly stronger than normal, as they normally can't throw down the stumps to save themselves, but with Bruce on the backnet they held us to a much lower total. Their bowling was still pretty average.
Our team included two cripples, with Steve carrying an injury into the game, and Bart pretending to injure his ankle so he can carry on seeing that lovely physio for some 'curative massage' *cough*.
32 extras was a bit high, especially with OMG away. Still, it just goes to show that the bowling itself doesn't overly matter, as it's the fielding that makes or breaks the game. I think I was the only fielder not getting in on the action - but then with only two backnets the ball wasn't often coming to the back. In particular, Chan had a good day in the field, though I can recall some great fielding by all - some pure reflexes, some calm decision making. An 8-0 win isn't to be sniffed at, even if it is against the Madmen - well done on a solid all-round team performance.
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