TCC3s v Kingsley @ home

TCC3s v Kingsley @ home. 12:15 meet time for a 1:00 pm start. The WhatsApp group was ablaze with messages about changes in the team with Raghu introducing someone called ‘Wealth of experience’ into the team sheet to replace Jo. (Some say it might have been Jurjees who Raghu was referring to), discussions then turned to loose chat about who would come in at what time; Vipul being the last to confirm that he would be in at 12:45.

In a surprising turn of events, Satya was first to arrive at the grounds. (miracles do happen) and set up the boundary ropes given there was nothing else to do. Piyush and Raghu then followed and the rest of the team trickled in sluggishly. The prematch catching practice session was chaotic and fruitless and was swiftly abandoned in about 5 minutes, with none of the team holding on to any catches. Kingsley (with only 10 men)won the toss and elected to field first. TCC3s Batting order was decided quickly; instructions from Raghu were clear this time.(atleast 40 runs in the first 10 overs without losing any wickets) . (Raghu had forgotten the ‘no wickets’ bit in the prematch lecture against Christleton). Piyush and Satya ( still reeling from the shock of being asked to open) took to the field. Kitchen and Bedderidge opened the bowling for Kingsley. The first wicket was lost with the score at 46 with Piyush holing out a simple catch at mid off off the bowling of Bedderidge. Akshat and Satya then added another 51 runs before Satya departed at 49 bowled by Taylor, with the score on 96 for 2. Vipul and Swaraj were next to depart on 6 and 4 respectively. Akshat batted fluently at the other end and was out next after a fluent 57 with the total score on 160. Raghu pitched in with a cameo of 34 runs in 7 balls. Raghu departed next chipping the ball back to J Taylor. Sanchit followed suit in a similar fashion on 5 with the TCC score on 200. Vijay (44) and Pushkaraj (26) added 65 runs for the last wicket and the TCC3s innings ended on 265 for 7 in 40 overs. Taylor and Bedderidge were the most successful bowlers for Kingsley with 2 wickets each.

Lunch was taken swiftly and TCC3s took to the field with lungs full of tobacco smoke, some even making the questionable decision to don sunglasses on an overcast day. Jurjees ( aka Wealth of experience) opened the bowling with Sanchit at the other end. First 10 overs yielding 29 for no loss. ( This was enough to trigger off run rate related stress in atleast one TCC3S player, we won’t go into details about who it was) R Taylor was first to depart run out by Vipul on 19. The TCC3s bowled well throughout the match with Akshat being the pick of the bowling with 2 wickets for 8 off his 5 overs. Vipul and Pushkaraj chipped in with 2 wickets each, Vijay and Raghu contributing with 1 wicket each. Raghu, in a bizzarely magnanimous gesture threw the ball to Satya to bowl the last over, an offer which was swiftly declined. Raghu then bowled out Betteridge and the Kingsley innings wound up at 108 all out (31.5 overs).
Yet another solid win for TCC3s ( Full 15 points). Players left the field with Raghu making gibes at Vipul for his 100% win record etc. since he took over as captain.

Post match drinks were uneventful generally and the group dispersed, ready ( well almost or maybe not ) to take on Knutsford in the next T20 cup match;

Second half of the cricket season starts with TCC3S hosting Northwich next Saturday; hopefully TCC3S will be able to maintain their winning streak.