Tilburg Regents
Thursday May 30 in Dulwich Strollers lost by four runs Tilburg Regents 151-7
(20 overs; Baylis-Allen 2-11, Macaulay 2-22, Low 1-5, Patel 1-25, Stubbs 1-27)
Strollers 147-7
(20 overs; Love 32no, Travis 30no, Kyne 29, Skinner 15) After
a win last time out against the Bricklayers, the Strollers were keen to build
on the good form. This anticipation equated in a full XI turning up on time
prior to the match start time, a midweek rarity!
It
is fair to say emotions over the midweekers are somewhat mixed amongst the
Strollers membership. At one end of the spectrum are the T20 enjoyers like
George Love, who can be quoted as 'frothing' the midweekers. At the opposite
side, are the cricket purists such as Simon who described the midweekers as
'not proper cricket' according to onlookers [Editor’s note: Simon, who just
happens to be the editor, strongly denies ever having expressed such opinions.
On the contrary, he is an avid and supportive follower of the Notts Outlaws and
the Strollers T20 Army]
It
is difficult to disagree with Simon's position having witnessed the following
in last week’s midweeker:
*A severe lack of whites on display;
*An abundance of black socks and
shoes;
*A field set-up with one singular
fielder on the legside coupled with two fielders quite literally holding
hands at silly mid;
*Some spin bowling which was so high
in trajectory it was reported by NASA as an incoming meteorite;
*A team member still wearing pads in
the pub circa one-hour post match.
Moving
back to this week’s game, there was some pessimism over whether the rain would
hamper proceedings. Everyone seemingly became Met Office weather experts, types
of cloud were studied, winds were estimated. All fears were alleviated by
the presence of covers on the pitch.
We
bowled first with an opening bowling partnership of Scott Findlay and Freddie
Broster-Turley, who started pretty well. Freddie bowled four overs for 26 runs
and Scott bowled three for 22. Their openers were pretty handy players but we
came into the 10-over mark with them 62-2. It could have been even less but
some lax fielding on the report author's part and some slippery outfield
mishaps did shell a few runs. A delightful run-out by keeper Love off Nyan
Patel's first ball and a nick off Richie Stubbs’ bowling got the half-time
wickets.
Captain
Blair Travis then made sure the bowling changes were thick and fast, with the
next 10 overs being bowled by five different bowlers. Wickets were frequent but
so were the boundaries.
Will
Baylis-Allen drew a wicket thanks to a catch at cow corner from Blair, who
admitted to wanting the ball to stop short to prevent any
embarrassing dropped catches in the slippery conditions. George got a
stumping in amongst the action, with the Tilburg player so far out of his
crease that even when he retracted his foot back he was still a foot out
of the white lines. He then proceeded to ask the square leg umpire if he
was out, whilst still remaining a foot out of his crease. It is fair to say
that was one that did not need a VAR check.
Russell
Kyne bowled two tidy overs, with Alastair Macaulay and John Low providing a
further three wickets between them. Richard Skinner took on the final over, displaying a
nice array of Strollers bowling variations.
Tilburg
ended their batting innings on 150, setting 151 to win. Our opening pair of Kyne
and Love piled on 29 and 32 respectively. A few huge sixes thrown in the mix
put us in the driving seat.
Travis
then came in to continue the damage, meaning we went into the 11th over on
95-1. It looked like it could be a cruise, but a vintage Strollers collapse was
on the horizon.
Skinner hit a quick 15 before an almighty slump from 101-2 to 124-6. At over
17, we need 27 runs to win with No 9 and No 10 batsmen in. A valiant effort in
the final three overs left us four runs short, with Tilburg tactically leaving
some overs for their best bowler until the final part of the game. Overall, a
good performance against a very decent team.
Capt:
Blair Travis. Wkt: George Love.
Match fees: Glen Oliver. Match report: Will Baylis-Allen.
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