1st XI Match Report vs L’boro 2s (05/05/21)
The 1st XI kicked off their BUCS season on Wednesday, facing Loughborough 2s on a damp Lakeside ground that had rugby-length grass and a boundary that was 40m on one side and 90m on the other.The 10am warm-up got off to a tough start, with Joshua‘s gazebos proving a challenging task for the team to assemble, and a lack of bails and 30-yard circle discs forcing Jabez and fresher Tanmay to source some about 5 minutes before the toss. Winning the toss, Sohayl put L’boro in to bat – it was a Cryfield wicket which likely hadn’t been rolled since 2019; if I chose to bat, the Club would’ve renounced my captaincy.
Frequent checking of the forecast and looking above to the worryingly dark clouds didn’t dampen the team’s spirits as the first over in 2 years started with a maiden, courtesy of Jabzy. Fresher Zachary opened up from the other end, kicking off his UWMCC career with a no-ball then wide. This post’s photo was Sohayl after selecting him precisely to open the bowling:Tight lines and alarming Cryfield bounce brought Zac’s bowling back to where it should be. A Jabzy peach which hooped so much it sent Josh down the leg-side squared up the L’boro opener, clipping the top of off peg. Zac’s extra pace and bounce led to a tough diving chance off the top edge at third man which Jabzy just failed to hold on to (fine af). Great spells from both Jabzy and Zac meant they finished with figures of 1-9 and 0-15 off their 5 overs each respectively, as Sohil and Vrushal came on as the first change.3 balls into Sohil’s first over and L’boro’s solid-looking number 3 snicked off to Josh (who could’ve let Jacob do something at 1st slip) from a booming cover drive (sick bowling change ikr). I guess he didn’t realise we were playing at Cryfield, not Loughborough.
At the other end, Vrushal one-upped Zac, bowling a 10-ball first over to kick off his spell. Again, the post’s photo is Sohayl at this point: Off for rain at the 12 over mark and L’boro were 32/2. Within 30 minutes, the covers were off, only for the rain to restart harder than before literally as we got into our fielding positions. Another half-hour later and we were back on properly this time. Vru bounced their opener, hitting him in the ribs and causing him to act as if he’d been shot (but it wasn’t even that quick so idk what he was doing). Sohil and Vru bowled excellently to finish with 1-10 and 0-17 off their 5 overs each, respectively.
They’d probs be annoyed if I didn’t mention this but Sohil started with a wicket maiden followed by a maiden and Vru finished his spell with 2 consecutive maidens. Tight fielding by freshers Ken, Tanmay, Zac, and Oli allowed us to build pressure, but a couple overs later and the rain started again. The match was called off with L’boro stranded on 54/2 after 20.2 overs, with both captains deciding to rearrange for a couple of weeks’ time (& hopefully at Loughborough). Special mentions go to freshers Ken, Oli, Tanmay, and Zac, as well as Josh and Avik for making their UWMCC debuts (but does it really count though).
We travel to Nottingham 1s next Wednesday.