2nd XI match report vs Nottingham 3s (05/05/21)
The 2nd XI kicked off their BUCS season yesterday facing Nottingham Uni on a pitch that can only be described as green and damp. Winning the toss, Nathan decided to have a bowl. Had I lost this one, I think some would have launched a coup on the spot.
Sam Holmes was tossed the ball to open up, however, pulled up injured three balls in. A fielder and bowler down, the boys all rallied with Luke taking over from Sam to open up with Angus. Both bowled with great skill and beat the edge of the Notts openers numerous times. Angus got the breakthrough, clean bowling their opener with a hooping delivery. We were in the game despite being a fielder down. Some brilliant energy in the field led by Mark Price, had the oppo struggling to score for the first 20 overs. As their batsmen progressed, Mikey came on and offered good control with his leg-spin and Rikhil bowled exceptionally well to finish 0-22 off of his 10 overs.
The second wicket fell when the skipper decided to bring himself on to fill in some overs. Somehow Nathan wasn’t penalised for bowling six head-height bouncers in a row, with the umpire seemingly forgetting the rules of cricket. Collecting himself, Nathan removed their number 3 with a questionable LBW. As their other opener neared his century, wickets began to fall at the other end, with Sam claiming two sharp stumping’s off our seamers, a real feat considering the state of the pitch. Angus returned with a fantastic slower ball to clean bowl their stubborn number 6. Their opener did reach his century, proceeding to tee off towards the end, hitting one of the biggest sixes I’ve seen in BUCS cricket.
Considering the situation, it was a strong fielding and bowling effort against a team that had already played 5 matches this season. Nottingham’s innings ended with them scoring 290 from their 50 overs. Mark Price and Josh Bird opened up the batting for Warwick, facing some hostile bowling from their seamers. Josh got a good one and snicked off in the first over, with Mark falling shortly after in the second. Matthew Anscomb and Nathan steadied the ship somewhat, getting through the power play, before both falling with Warwick still not yet reaching 100. Sam Hawes took flack from their Corden, labelling his helmet a ‘Tesco lid’ and succumbed to their bowling change to spin. Rikhil and Nikhil occupied the crease for some time, with both batting beautifully, leading to many questioning the skipper why they weren’t higher in the order. Sorry boys, my mistake.
Nikhil was caught and bowled after a brilliant 48 and Rikhil ended up stranded after passing his 50. A respectable chase with the 2s putting 191 on the board in response to the mammoth score by Nottingham. Special mentions go to Mike Rowlatt, Luke Walker, Mark Price, Angus Forrest, Rikhil Vivekanand, Josh Bird and Matt Anscomb for making their BUCS debuts yesterday.
We host Nottingham 2s in 3 weeks at Cryfield.