2nd from top played 2nd from bottom in what was never going to be a classic. The weather forecast were bleak and the 4s looked strong enough to defend any total north of 150.
After losing the toss we were put into bat, after El Capitano got caught at cover driving for the 3rd week in a row. The Roo met Clubman Dave in the middle, for what became the best partnership of the year in the Fours and the 3rd best at the club all year. They put on 163 runs for the second wicket partnerships, giving very few, if any, chances to the opposition to break the partnership. Clubman Dave taught the kids watching a lesson in how to develop an innings, with just 12 Fours, Dave rotated the strike fantastically, keeping the score ticking from over 1 to over 40. He ended up with an unbeaten 109 from 106 balls, while Clubman was building towards another 100, the Roo was also playing some fantastic cricket at the other end. The Roo playing his usual array of classical cricketing shots mixed with some more Dunleavy esque pulls into the leg side also scored freely. He scored his first 50 in the fours which had been coming after several brilliant innings in previous games. The Roo was finally out while trying to accelerate the innings, a fantastic batting display ending on 63. Shenfield’s answer to Lance Armstrong was the next into bat and with just 8 overs to come and 8 wickets in hand he was not planning to stick around. Zak smashed his 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th ball to the boundary, after being goaded by their wicket keeper that if he doesn’t smash the next ball for six he was a p***y. He proceeded to smack not just the next ball but the next two balls back over the bowlers head for maximums. He was eventually caught for 26 after lasting 10 balls at the crease. Mystery Spinner up next, with 6 overs to go there was 0% chance of any defensive shots being played so the spectators were in for a treat. Dunleavy adding 34 runs to the total leaving the scores at 250 on the nose.
After a fantastic tea provided by the Arnold’s it was our turn to bowl and with the skies turning grey and rain the air, not only did we need to take early wickets but also get to that 20 wicket mark as soon as possible. With wickets in the 1st, 2nd and 4th overs from Jamie Kirby 5 wickets and Ironman we got off to the best start we could have hoped for. Iron Man took his second before Gopal and Proctor were thrown the ball each taking a wicket each. Rain, Lightning and Thunder brought El Capitano and the Roo on to bowl. Needing to get in 6 overs before Hurricane Shenfield ruined the festivities. At this points spin and 3 step run ups let us get through the 6 overs in less than 20 minutes. The opposition captain, the nice bloke that he is, let us get to the 20 over mark before calling an end to proceedings.
The Dream of becoming the Shenfield Invincibles is still insight and a win next week at Hutton means promotion is guaranteed.
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