Warwick 3rd XI (A) 180-10 (41.2) def. by Worcester 3rd XI (H) 181-2 (25.0) by 8 wickets
Full Scorecard
Worcester 3s were the unfortunate hosts to the 3s who were confident after the great win against Lincoln 1s last week. With the 2s finally kicking off their season, a couple of changes resulted in BUCS debuts for Amogh and Suchin – the former in great form after a fluent 2 against the mighty Friendlies. The strict 8:45am meet time meant that we set off promptly at 9:20am with Turner making his own way after getting kimmed by Warwick parking. After spending 20 mins looking for the entrance to the ground, we had to climb a fence and arrive 15 mins before the start of play to find that the groundsman had prepared a wicket with a 30 and 80 yard boundary.
Losing the toss, we were put into bat with the destructive pair of Northern Jono and Amogh to open up. Turner – “I reckon Amogh will snick off 3rd ball chasing a wide one”. 5 overs later we found ourselves in trouble at 20-2 with both openers back in the pavilion, Amogh snicking off 3rd ball after chasing a wide one. In an attempt to eat away their sorrows, Jono and Amogh set off on a 45min trip to the local co-op to buy a subway. After a long DMC about how much they love cricket, they returned to see Dan Reed smoke a half tracker straight down deep square leg’s throat which probably would’ve been 6 if the boundary wasn’t 100 yards long. This left us 122-5 at the half way stage as Harry Riley (53) notched up another half century to lead the recovery. Ollie and Om batted well for 30 and 25* respectively to get us to 180 – decent given the position we were in but still a good 50-60 runs below par on a solid deck, quick outfield and a 20 yard boundary.
With a plethora of bowlers to choose from we went into the second innings confident that we could still defend the total. The overcast conditions favoured Turner who steamed in, much like Mitchell Johnson, to open up with the sharp Robson Piper. Jono was stationed at first slip to express his skill as a chatting all-rounder and was ably accompanied by Amogh at second as together they imparted their batting knowledge to the opposition. However, loose bowling and average fielding allowed their openers to make the most of the short boundary as their no.2 brought up his 50 having knocked in the inside edge of his brand new Kookaburra bat to perfection. We finally managed to get the break through with Rahul getting a caught and bowled to put an end to the 130 run opening stand. The other opener fell soon after to Om with Jono taking a spectacular catch at first slip off a reverse sweep. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to trigger a collapse as Worcester cruised home in 25 overs to win by 8 wickets.
Overall a poor day for the 3s in all aspects of the game with a lot to work on going into next week. There are a few positives to take from the game though, as captain and vice-captain continue to set the example along-side Ollie Carter who once again impressed with the bat.