Saturday:
Upottery 83 a/o (B. Foxwell 36, Chubb 13*)
Churchinford 84-2
We were just blown away by some of the best bowling we had ever faced in our division. It was swinging like a boomerang, and bouncing very variably in humid conditions. I came out to bat at 58-8, and second ball from bowler Acheson swung from outside leg onto middle, kicked off a length, glanced off the shoulder of my bat and struck me on the cheek, where I still have a bruise from it. It was very testing but I tend to get pumped when we are in a situation like that so I just tried to battle as Foxwell had a slog. When he got out I was left with the number 11. He saw off three deliveries from Acheson and I took five off the first five deliveries of the next over, taking a single to leave no. 11 facing one ball, which promptly bowled him. I was still proud that I hadn't got out, though.
Sunday:
Tedburn St. Mary 261-9 (Chubb 8-0-41-0)
Upottery 199 a/o (G. Kennard 57*, S. Bath 33, M. Joyce 27, Chubb 23)
Although this doesn't look like a good result, we were fielding a severely weakened team containing 3 under 11s, 1 under 13 (who is the first team wicketkeeper and worth his place on merit) and a nuff-nuff, so really we did well. Tedburn is a nice little ground near the edge of Dartmoor, though they only have an artificial strip laid (thanks to a football club) so that the setting sun shines right into everyone's eyes. Our weakened side was the reason I bowled a full complement of overs though I should have been hit for more than I eventually did and maybe could have got a wicket or two. I came out to bat on 20-2 with a U11 at the other end. I tried to give him a go, and when he got out for 3 I started playing more aggressively. Unfortunately a 50/50 mix up ran me out going for a single to deep square (albeit on a short boundary) I think if we hadn't hesitated we would have had a run. We were 101-9 but the captain was in and he got us up to a respectable score in the circumstances.
Monday:
Tiffin**** 192-9 (K. Balasubrimaniam 130)
Kilmington 129 a/o (R. Watkins 57, Extras 41, Chubb 13)
This was another big test. The wicket was very dry and very bouncy, and all of the Tiffin**** batsmen struggled except Balasubrimaniam, who was awesome and didn't give a single chance. If it hadn't been for him I don't know what would have happened. I batted three and was in on the fourth ball of the match. It was a test compared to Churchinford, only this time combating the bounce rather than the swing, and I tried. You really had to grind out the runs because the two bowlers were magnificent, one very fast and bouncing it up at the ribcage (though he gave many of the extras in wides and byes) and the other, slower but still nippy, bowling a suffocatingly consistent off-stump line. After about twelve overs I finally nicked one to the slips, where the fielder pulled off a one-handed diving catch. Kilmington had several first-team batsmen but they couldn't get the ball away either and they subsided. I ended up with the second-top score off the bat, but I was always living on borrowed time out in the middle.
Edit: It's Tiffin t i t s. There badge is, believe it or not, two half-circles like this UU with a dot in each circle!
We needed 8 off the last over, with two wickets left, following Ahmed's heroics, which rescued us from 36-4. I took a single off the first ball to give the number ten strike. He got a single as well, then I dug out a yorker for another one. He produced another yorker to beat the number ten, leaving the last wicket partnership to get 5 off 2. The penulitmate ball is beauty, an outswinger just short of length that he did well not to nick. I thought about attempting to sneak a bye, but decided it would be suicidal. We now needed five off the last ball, a tie wouldn't be good enough. The last ball is a decent length ball, and is hoofed in the general direction of deep-midwicket, where a spectacular but slightly irrelevant catch was taken. I was pretty gutted at the other end, and there was a sort of Brett Lee-Andrew Flintoff moment with the bowler who got Ahmed out.
