Match report by Neil Megson
The laws of probability…my backside.. One toss won from 9 this season…
Hook Norton elected to have a bat and a nice start by them,32 from 9,then a fine 2nd wicket partnership of a 102 saw Hooky well placed at 134-1 with 16 overs to go, we are looking down the barrel of chasing 230+, but how well did we do bowl to restrict them to 212-5 in 53 overs,Tom Anderson 2-42 again good, 2 wickets also for Ollie Murrey,I’ve not had a leg side stumping from him in a while, its certainly not the first though and won’t be the last … young Will Hutchinson with 8 tidy overs too.. But once again Adnan Ahmed the pick of our attack,a superb ‘bowl to a field ‘ spell of 17 2 45 1 just outstanding by the owner of Banbury’s premier Kebab shop… Adnans control in the last 2 weeks simply outstanding ..
Hooky to their credit batted nicely without really pushing on, but their running between the wickets outstanding.. I was really happy chasing 212 though..
We needed a good start but it wasn’t to be, 3 down quickly and at 80-5 we were effectively out of the game,Craig Haupt held the innings together brilliantly with an crafted 75no,sadly nobody gave Craig the support his excellent innings deserved .. In the ‘Time’ cricket if you can’t win then don’t lose which we did finishing on147-8…I very rarely make excuses about strength of our team but for a 3rd team to lose 6 players from the previous week is crippling.. For us to grind out a draw against the side who now top our division is a testament to the depth the club has currently.. Hanborough away next week, a ground i have never played at before… Looking forward to it.. Onward