I gained some satisfaction in losing the toss and playing.
There was a large supporter base for CCC with Jack Lumber in the crowd and Lee Beaman resting after flying from SFC. He figured it would be MOST restful umpiring, especially as CCC were in the field.
Rahul and Ravi stroked the ball around for the first 5 overs and then Weather's struck with Ravi beaten in flight and stumped on the second attempt. Rahul was then caught at gully by one of 3 Neil MacDonald (aka- Macka) outfield catches. At the other end Jet-the-pie-thrower was recovering from a big night out and was profoundly nauseated but still managed to snap up the wickets of Gill and Creswell. Kumar was the only fly in the ointment and scored a well hit 47 until Fovers trapped him LBW (twice in 2 balls!!). Ahmed bowled straight and sent Shiroy on his bike and Saracens ended up with 149 off their 35, which, if I had been offered at the start of the match, I would have gratefully accepted. Everyone bowled and fielded exceptionally well, particularly Wino who save another 30 runs. Weathers managed 4 for 38 and Jet 2 for 35 off their respective 10.
Unfortunately I listened to Fothers again and sent him in with Berger to give us a start - experience up front, former Colony players - no problem. Let's just say that didn't work. We then fidgeted and fumbled making little impression on the scoreboard except in the wickets column. A glimmer of hope shone through while Macka and Ahmed were at the
wicket but we could never get ahead of the required run rate. The Rabbi came in and refused to lie down top scoring with 30. It wasn't over until it was over and I was very proud of our fielding performance - perhaps a wee bit disappointed in our batting. Of course I blame Stead for the loss - how easy might 149 have been!! The down side is that if Grocer was playing we would probably have been chasing 250 as usual. How one player can manage to bring the fielding side down to his level of incompetence is extraordinary.
Staying positive : automatic Plate semi-finalists ourselves.
I will be in touch as CCC attempt to fill our plate, now the cup is empty.
