BOTWCC 2nd XI v Sapcote

Saturday 4th July

Having won the toss, returning skipper Adam Archer elected to bowl on a fairly true pitch after a week's hot weather. There was something in the atmosphere and the ball was expected to 'do a bit' for the bowlers.

Openers JC and Grunter got things under way by giving nothing to the visiting batsmen as always and Grunter took his first of three in his first over. Runs were proving hard to find for Sapcote and knowing they had little to offer, were already battening down the hatches. A myriad near misses frustrating the bowlers was eventually rewarded in the 15th over when Jack had the 2nd opener chip one up to Treacle. After 15 overs, Sapcote were a mere 25 for 2. There was little resistance from the visitors from then on. A young whipper snapper called Crump (amusingly) had a go and got their highest score of 19 before Penton got him caught behind, then the rot set in. Wickets came at regular intervals for all bowlers barring Tom who bowled well but had no luck on this day. The pick of the bowlers had to be Treacle for his 4 for 22 off 7.2 overs. Take out the 13 he went for in his first 'loosener' over and his figures would be 4 for 9. Shippo senior also stepped up and took a brace of scalps in his spell of just 4 overs, but he did sadly have to endure an unusual over.

It's not often John Shipman gets hit for 11 off one over. We have become quite accustomed to the tight line and length and variable speeds that have taken hundreds of wickets over the years. And in those years he's honed his skills to make sure few runs come from his attack. That is, when he gets the support of his team mates. Having just been hit for the largest 6 seen at Towles Fields (50+ feet into the woods over the club house) another attempt that might, on another day, had been caught behind went through the cordon and was looking like going for 4 byes. Thankfully, the grass was long and the chasing Adam Archer stopped the ball a foot or so from the rope. Unusually, the skipper then picked the ball up, lined up his throw back to the awaiting Custard at the stumps, drew his arm back to throw the ball and then neglected to let go of it. At least not until the new trajectory of the ball meant that it flew over his shoulder into the rape seed behind him. 4 runs. Class. Pure class.

21 men eventually picked themselves up from the floor after this side splitting mirth, but the next over saw the innings wrapped up by Treacle. Sapcote were all out for 78 runs in the 39th over.

After a smashing tea, BOTWCC opening bats, Custard and Nealer, took to the crease at set about the business of wrapping this thing up. Custard got started by slapping a 4 through deep mid wickets on the first ball of the innings, which was fair for the long hop he received, but it set him up for a fall. Having gotten such a good start he then didn't give himself time to settle down and this eventually cost him a cheap wicket. He's clearly a good bat and a great prospect, but he really needs to pick his shots better. He fell in the 6th over by chipping a silly catch to mid wicket. Nealer battled on and Bacon came in to replace Custard. He also didn't waste time and hit 3 quick 4's and a few singles before he went to another catch for 15.

Tom Shippo then made his was with not too many runs needed. He would probably have liked a longer spell at the crease while facing such average bowling, but when we needed 10 runs to win in the 16th over, Burton had no impact at all. The new bowler from the Field End sprayed the all 10 of the winning runs past the keeper for byes. Game over. Burton finishes on 82 for 2 off 16 overs. Amusingly, only 54 of those runs were off the bat. 28 came in extras, who were the highest scorer of the day. Well done extras.

24 points in the bag.

A good performance by all today. Yes, it was aided by a fairly weak visiting side, but bowling was accurate, fielding was enthusiastic, 5 catches were held and the batting was clinical. Play like that each week and we'll win more games this season. Good work to all.

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