What a win against all odds. We must have something about playing in cold and windy conditions. Week one was a shocker – cold and uncomfortable and we struggled. Bowling wise we did well rolling them for 172. None better than Pat Nesbitt who had the ball on a string for his 7/24 off 11 overs – brilliant. Not far behind him was Chris Collits with 2/46 from 17 straight overs. We had 15 overs to bat and struggled to be 5/35 overnight.

Day 2 was our day and what a turnaround. We just missed avoiding the follow-on being rolled for 83.Andrew Watt with 17 and Kishore 16 added a bit a fight but just not enough. Expecting to follow-on their captain batted to give us a total. They batted for 18 overs and declared at 5/86 – giving us a target of 176 in 40 overs. What about Pat. His 3 wickets brought his match total to 10/61 – brilliant bowling in difficult conditions.

The target was tougher than it looked with Glenhaven Oval being very slow with long grass and a sandy base. We did it well with consistent partnerships and some sensible lofted hitting to overcome the slow ground. Kishore was super, getting 44 and do it well. What about Bryce who scored his first ever 50 with 57*. Andrew (13), John (10) and Nathan (14) didn’t get big scores but they got them quickly that kept us within range.

The match was building nicely. We got down to the last over needing 4 to win and we did it on the 2nd last ball. This is a really important win for us and puts us back in touch with the top 4.

As mentioned before, once we get a good start in the top order, we have the batting depth to get good scores. Whenever we get this start we capitalise. Our bowling is also very good with Andrew, Mark and Pat among the best in the comp and Chris and Kishore by far the best spinners. Our problem is our catching. Once we get this right – different ball game.

On to next week when we play Normanhurst at Campbell Park. They are just in front of us so if we can knock this one over we are right back in the play for the top 4.

Ross A

Posted by Ross Anderson on November 12, 2006 05:24 AM