4th XI come second (again)

Defeat to Brooklands opens relegation trap door

On a sweltering hot day Gary got lucky with the toss and decided to have a bat in what was a ‘must win game’. The pitch looked a good one and the question was could we make Brooklands sweat in the field. The new opening partnership of Ameya & Zain did not last long with Ameya (0) cleaned up by Jones to make it 7 for 1. This brought Jurjees to the crease for a bat (some thought that at such rarefied height in the order he might need Oxygen) and he soon was wielding the trusty cut shot to open his account. After a few lusty blows Zain (18) was out Lbw to Jones slogging across the line and yet another start was wasted. 24 for 2. Up steps Clarky at 4 and he looks good for a while before pushing a ball into covers hands to make it 32 for 3. He had made 4.

The skipper was in next and he was soon off the mark with a couple of 4s. A rebuild was needed but unfortunately Jurj (14) had a brain storm and tried to smash a ball over mid-off only for it to lob to cover point. 45 for 4. Pushka (2) at 6 tried to restrain himself but a full length ball was too tempting and he played all round it to make it 64 for 5 and Brooklands had the initiative. Tayyab meandered to the crease and muttered those horrible words ‘No quick singles’ on respect of a sore calf / shoulder pain / back ache. In reality his running did not seem too affected by his ailments in a 61 run partnership with the captain in which he was the dominant force with some crisp ball striking. At the 30 over drinks it was apparent that the innings needed to accelerate but Gary (42) was flagging in the heat and was out caught behind trying to go down the track to the spin of Moore. 125 for 6. Mo Abdullah joined Tayyab and in the last 5 overs or so they both made hay to close the innings at 151 for 6 which was most probably 60 light of a competitive score. Tayyab (52*) & Abdullah (12*) played well as the innings closed.

Pushka & Will opened the bowling for Timperley and Pushka bowled Higgins (0) with an absolute jaffa to make it 7 for 1. Will backed him up later by bowling Skillings (11) with a lovely off cutter to make it 26 for 2. With it being so hot Gary jiggled the bowlers and replaced Will with Seth who struggled with no balling through his spell. Pushka pegged Brooklands back further when he caught and bowled Willard (20) to make it 60 for 3. Seth improved this to 64 for 4 by getting Mydletton (28) caught by Tayyab in the gully.

Ben replaced Seth and had early joy in bowling Jones (4) to make it 97 for 5. Unfortunately, Garnett was not hanging about and despatched any loose stuff to the boundary and he made 36 (6 x 4, 1 x 6) before Tayyab bowled him. 137 for 6. Tayyab had replaced Ben on the Captain learning that he was indeed fit enough to bowl and not the self-professed invalid he had reported to be at match start.

Garnett's dismissal opened a small window of opportunity but this was rapidly slammed shut by Lee (8*) & McCoy (16*) in closing out the game for a 4 wicket win for Brooklands with 10 overs to spare.

Once again Timperley’s batting frailty placed the bowlers under too much pressure allowing for a comfortable Brooklands win.

Results elsewhere in the league meant that relegation is virtually assured following this defeat.