1st XI v Ardvreck
Unfortunately for the First XI, the result in Saturday’s match against Ardvreck, at Ardvreck, did not match the glorious weather.
For the first time this season, Belhaven was put in to bat first. Ardvreck has an artificial pitch and the ball tended to come through very quickly, unsettling the batsmen early on. Despite this, the openers, Tom D and Tom G, made a steady start, scoring 18 runs off the first six overs. Unfortunately this was not to last as first Tom G went out, caught, and then Tom D was bowled in the next over, by a very short delivery that failed to bounce.
This brought George and Peter to the crease and the runs dried up for a spell as the new batsmen got their eyes in. Eventually, it was necessary to try and increase the run-rate and Peter did so by scoring a couple of fours. Unfortunately he was then caught trying to pull another.
With Stods the next man in, we had two very ‘correct’ batsmen at the crease – excellent for stabilising the innings, and this they did, but not so good for scoring at a rapid rate. The Ardvreck outfield was rather coarse (the grass, not the players) and this made it very difficult to score anything other than singles unless the ball was hit in the air. As their partnership progressed, the boys started running well between the wickets but they just could not manage to hit the ball with enough power to score the vital boundaries. Their 58 run partnership was a good one, but in all this time there were only four fours - all the rest were singles.
In the end, Stods was bowled trying to hoik one and Rory came in to face a ball or so. He got a single and then started to run off the last ball when it went through to the ‘keeper. He could have made the run too, as the ‘keeper missed the stumps, but because he hadn’t called, George never left his crease, the ball went all the way back to the other stumps and Rory was run out. Our total was 101; potentially defendable but I was worried that it might be fifteen or so short of what we needed.
Our spell in the field began brilliantly. Tom G and Fred opened the bowling and a maiden by Tom G was followed by a wicket-maiden an over later. Unfortunately it stopped there for a while. Four byes in Fred’s next over were followed by a number of wides and a few boundaries. Tom D and Guinness came on at the change. Although Guiness picked up one wicket, and Tom D went for few runs, neither of these two really tested the batsmen, nor found any consistency. After twelve overs, Ardvreck were on 48 for 2 and seemed to be coasting to a victory.
Tom G brought himself back on, along with Cappy. Cappy was hit for four early on in his first over but then a drinks break was taken. This proved a bit of a turning point. Tom G bowled three outstanding overs after the break, this was a captain’s performance and his spell of four overs went for only six runs. Cappy too was very steady.
Then Tom D and Fred returned to the attack. This was a difficult time as Ardvreck had only to score at under three an over. They bowled well, Fred in particular – he took two wickets for 8 runs in this spell. At this point things appeared to be swinging in our favour and the batsmen were under a lot of pressure. I was very impressed with how the team managed to drum up some enthusiasm and energy. Unfortunately one of the wickets brought a big hitter to the crease and a few mighty blows from him ended the game.
So, our first loss of the season. It is disappointing as I don’t think that Ardvreck are a particularly strong team. We failed to adapt our batting to suit the conditions and the situation, and failed to post a good enough score. Some of our bowling was a bit erratic, but on the other hand, some of it was outstanding. The team certainly rose to the challenge after the drinks break and gave it their best shot. Let’s not dwell on it; it is a while until our next fixture – in the mean time, good luck with the exams boys.
Batting Bowling
|
Tom D
|
6
|
Bowled
|
|
Tom G
|
5
|
Caught
|
|
George
|
31
|
Not Out
|
|
Peter
|
9
|
DNB
|
|
Tom S
|
21
|
Bowled
|
|
Rory
|
1
|
Run Out
|
|
Douglas
|
-
|
DNB
|
|
Freddie
|
-
|
DNB
|
|
Dougal
|
-
|
DNB
|
|
Caspar
|
-
|
DNB
|
|
Lochy
|
-
|
DNB
|
|
Extras
|
28
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overs
|
Maidens
|
Wides
|
NBs
|
Runs
|
Wkts
|
|
Tom G
|
8
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
17
|
1
|
|
Fred
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
19
|
2
|
|
Tom D
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
20
|
1
|
|
George
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
15
|
1
|
|
Caspar
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
17
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ardvreck: 102 for 5 (29 overs).
Total: 101 for 5 (30 overs)
Result
Match lost by 5 wickets.
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