Hat-trick for J and a maiden 50 for Lawsy
Wednesday 21st May 2008
Mixed news since the latest update. For the 1sts, a couple of tough away fixtures have resulted in two defeats to both Caister and Winterton. In the 1st, the team copped the worst of the pitch and were indebted to scores from Breamo and the Cheese to post a competitive 197. However, with the pitch easing, this proved not quite enough despite the best efforts of 8 bowlers with Hound and Shend taking the wickets to fall.
Against Winterton, arguably the team conceded 30 too many despite a tidy spell from Mike. 230 is always a tough chase and depite a solid start from Moots and MB, wickets fell until Lawsy and Lil' Wattsy batted well at the end to grab an extra batting point in another disappointing away day.
The 2nds have fared better. The home game against Beccles B unfortunately fell victim to the weather but the week before saw an excellent win at home to Sprowston C. Against a very useful bowling side, the team recovered from a rocky 46-4 to post a solid 170-9 thanks primarily to club legend Lawsy. Taking obvious inspiration from his namesake and close friend currently playing in the IPL, he played shots all around the 3rd man area to notch up a heroic and stroke filled maiden 50 for the club. Krusty offered obdurate support for McClaw in a partnership of 68 with entertaining cameos from Grandmaster Stash and Swayze providing entertainment at the death.
Having totalled a competitive score, a professional bowling job sealed the game. Finchy in his 1st bowl of the season bowled a cracking straight 12 with Jez lending support and with the run rate climbing, J and Oaky finished the innings off with the skipper claiming a 1st 5 wicket haul for the club. A good game, a good team effort with a couple of fantastic individual performances.
For the Sunday sides, more mixed results. The 1sts lost a competitive game away to Mulbarton where depite half centuries from Coffee and the ex-Skipper, the opposition scampered home to a 4 wicket win with Kingy, J and Houndoss impressing with the ball.
More recently, the team performed well in a 122 run defeat of Hales. Moots, Grandmaster and Symmo all impressed with the bat, whilst with the ball, following an unfortunate retired hurt, all the bowlers performed well with the plaudits going to skipper J who cobbled together an unlikely hat-trick. Yes, the combined ages of the 3 dismissed was probably not more than 40 but he'll take it and his teammates certainly enjoyed polishing off his post game jug. For the record, it was the 1st Hardingham hatrick since current records started in 1993.
For the 2nds, a hard fought defeat against Burston was followed up with an emphatic win away to Hethersett. Jack, Oli and the two Joshs' have all been in the runs with Hasty, Stevey B and Billy all being amongst the wickets. Special mention must go also to 32 year old Peter B who took his 1st wickets for the club. A young team, the 2nds are improving with every game played and have already won as many games this season as they did the whole of last season.
So, a mixed bag of results with some outstanding and some would argue unlikely personal efforts. The weather seems set fair for this weeknd - here's looking forward to more entertainment over the 5 games being played this weekend.