Report by Colts player, Joby Beatty
The 3s had another away game against Cove this week without their skipper Dan, but they were left in the capable hands of Dave.
Toss and Early Wickets
Cove won the toss and elected to bat, which left the Oaks to field in the beautiful but hot afternoon sun. Skipper Dave kicked off with some strong bowling, with Joby following on after. They didn’t have to wait long for the first wicket, which came in the 6th over, bowled by Joby and caught by the safe hands of Steve. Dave followed up with a strong over, with only 1 run being taken. Joby’s second wicket came in the 8th, where it was caught by Will, getting out a strong Cove player (something these colts players might later regret!).
Middle Overs and Strong Bowling
It was then Ravi’s turn to partner with Dave, and he didn’t wait long to get his first wicket, which came in the 12th as he bowled an absolute Jaffa. A nice maiden over came in the 15th from Dave, then Will joined in with the strong bowling. Ravi’s second wicket came in the 18th, where he showed great agility, getting the catch just off the floor from his bowling. At the halfway point, the crowd wondered if Deano needed to concentrate more on the game than his fan club (well, I say club—it was just Joby’s dad)! The strong bowling and fielding continued with Ben and George’s overs. Joby got a maiden over in the 30th, helped by the athleticism shown by Steve to take a diving catch behind the wicket to stop a boundary—he was rolling the years back.
Late Innings Drama
Ryan was next to join the strong Oakley bowling. In the 34th over, Joby thought he was in for his third wicket. Not sure if it was the sun or hair in Dave’s face, but the catch wasn’t to be. Cove then stepped up the runs as it was getting towards the end, but in the 38th over, Will bowled and a kamikaze Cove player ran himself out as his partner chose not to leave his crease! Jeff and Will finished the bowling. Oaks had a target of 183 to win.
Batting Innings: A Solid Start
Onto the batting, where Jeff stepped in without his usual partner, but Ben joined him this time. The opening partnership was solid, and in the 8th over, Jeff hit two boundaries followed by a huge 6 in the 10th over. Sadly, this partnership was over in the 11th, where Jeff nicked it to the wicketkeeper to end his 27-run total. Dave P stepped in, starting with a couple of good boundaries, and Ben got the boundary also. The 15th saw the next wicket go, where Ben got bowled from some very strong bowling.
Middle Order Woes
Will stepped in to join Dave P, but this partnership was short-lived as Dave P hit a nice shot, but sadly it went straight to a fielder in the 16th. The 17th over is one to forget for the colts players Will and Joby, as the batsman they teamed up to get out earlier in the match skittled them both out quickly, one by one! Over to Deano to settle the nerves, which he did, but sadly not for long. In the 19th over, he was the next to go. How did he get out, I hear you ask? Bowled? No. Caught? No. Run out? No. Maybe LBW? No. That’s right, never before seen on a Saturday afternoon—he got out by obstruction of the wicketkeeper! The ball went into the air, and he walked forward thinking the ball was behind him. Little did he know the ball was right above his head, and the wicketkeeper was nearly getting a piggyback to try and catch it!
Late Order Fight
Over to the skipper to take control, which he did in style, and the boundaries started to flow. This partnership of Dave and Steve continued until the 25th over, when Steve got caught—another wicket gone. Ryan stepped in to join Dave after some advice from Deano to not obstruct the wicketkeeper, but unfortunately, in the 26th over, Ryan was caught and was shortly followed by George getting bowled. Onto Ravi to be the last partnership with Dave, where they took it to the 30th over. Ravi was cleanly bowled, and the game came to an end. Dave ended on 31 runs not out.
Conclusion
Unlucky Oaks, you bowled and fielded very strongly but were up against some solid bowling after that. Another Saturday defeat—onto next week to start getting back to winning ways.
MOTM: Dave Bowers who scooped a bucket of flapjacks.
