CURDRIDGE vs Railway Triangle - 24th July 2021
The Saturday Machine returned to the Lane after a 6 week hiatus caused by the recent monsoons which had made canoeing more viable than cricket.
It was a ten man outfit that faced the Railway Triangle as Del Candy was delayed returning to the borough following his gig topless modelling for the octogenarian ladies of Devon. Too many autographs to sign apparently…
Mucho changes from the previous week as the isolation crew returned to the side, and confidence was high as the teams took to the field.
Toss lost (again) but bowling was the option that would have been chosen so Skipper was happy for once.
Messers Addis and Janes took the new ball - both tight but no early breakthrough until James trapped the opener in front,
Tav then started his van and mixed jaffa's with beamers to unsettle the batsman who was dispatched with stumps castled.
More seam was then called upon, as Alex ran up the hill and delivered a high class spell of bowling - 6 overs for 16 runs and was only denied a wicket by a dubious caught behind decision.
By now it had become clear that the opening bat had set his stall out to bat through, and let the rest of the Railway play round him.
Another rotation of bowling brought the spin twins into play and this is where it started to unravel,
Now the Machine has set high standards of fielding this year but this was one of those days when the hands were greasier than a Wednesday night burger.
Skipper led the way with a couple of dollies, Punter generously waved a couple past and a few more went west as Curdridge generously gave the Railway life after life.
Jay eventually decided he would have to take matters into his own hands, literally, as he took a good caught and bowled.
The Railway started to accelerate as their score passed 100, so Dave, James and Tav were called for to close down the innings and at halftime the target was set at 133 to win,
Arguably this was 30 more than the Triangle should have got but still a chase-able target.
Tea done, and Luke had a new partner for the Tango this week as Tav promised sensible batting,
And the two of them delivered early doors until Tav’s knock took a similar format to one of his dates - going well early doors, looking good, progressing well, then a rush of blood to the head and it's all over in a flash!
Luke soon followed with the score on 44 and Dave joined Jay in the middle,
What followed was a mixture of class and biff, Jay with some sumptuous cover drives and Dave with some clubbing blows as the Railway's bowling was dismantled.
Curdridge were the side finishing like a train and the target was smashed with 11 overs still left to bowl.
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An excellent bowling and batting display combined with some abject fielding but it was enough for a valuable win that puts a bit of daylight between the Machine and the drop zone.
Next week - another toughie - Mansbridge away 1pm start
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Man of the Match - Jay leads the way showing that outstanding fitness levels really pays off, an unbeaten fifty with the bat and a decent spell with the ball taking the tiara this week.
Donut of the Day - Punter and Skipper will be sat in the park sharing a multi pack of Krispy Kreme's this week with some below par efforts in the field
Champagne Moment - A rare sight for the club with Messrs Janes, Dimmick, Nandha, Tavender and Keogh all paying their annual subs - eyes being rubbed in surprise all round!