Tuesday 2nd May 2006
Yes, unbelievably the weather actually allowed 3 games over the weekend and the club got off to a good start with both the 1sts and the Sunday side recording excellent but close victories with the 2nds going down in their inaugural fixture by 4 wickets.
For the 1sts, the batting fired spectacularly to record 258-2 with Breamo and Paul leading the charge with 88 and 125* respectively whilst an excellent 5 wicket haul from the skipper saw them sneak home by 12 runs. Whilst the fielding and bowling were decidedly rusty, that the batting went so well can only augur well for the rest of the season.
For the 2nds, a committed bowling effort wasn't quite enough to rescue a batting effort that was 25 runs or so light. At one stage, the team looked in danger of being dismissed for less than 100 but an excellent rearguard effort led by the Living Legend Stan the Man dragged the total upto something respectable and despite wickets from Jez, Shend and Stan the man who sprinted off with the MoM award, the 2nds couldn't quite snatch victory. However, more of the same effort and spirit will undoubtedly see the team win more than they lose this season.
Sunday saw one of more exciting games of recent seasons as the side recorded a 5 run win over a very social Old Catton side. Batting 1st, Hardingham were indebted to Wattsy and Krusty whose partnership allowed Chris and Daynesy to blast the total upto 175. With the ball, Stu took his 250th wicket for the club whilst Wattsy and Stu A also had good spells before with Catton needing only 35 off the last 13 overs with 6 wickets left, Rob and Daynsey blasted through the tail to record a nail biting 5 run win in the penultimate over.
So all in all a pretty good start to the season. This weekend sees both Saturday sides take on various incarnations of Hethersett with the Sundays taking on Belton. More of the same would be great - just maybe not quite as close!!