Attenborough v Gedling Colliery – Aug 10th
And BREATHE!!
In a must win game that looked at one stage that it could be ruined by the weather, the 1st XI recorded their first win since May 25th in an absolute thriller at the Strand.
The game started on time but after only 2 balls the players were off for rain and only returned over 80 minutes later. As a consequence, Attenborough were likely to receive only 40 overs in trying to surpass Gedling’s score.
After inviting the opposition to bat the visitors were soon in trouble at 18 for 3 with two wickets for Ben Kitt and one for Dom Harvey. There was then something of a recovery until Savin Perera’s 6th over that saw him take 3 wickets for no runs in just two overs. Another mini recovery saw the score climb to 115 before Andy Simkiss and Arjun Sandhu claimed a wicket each. The innings finally closed three balls before the end of the 50th over with a couple of run outs brilliantly executed by a combination of Ian Stone and Andy Simkiss for the first and Buffy Landa for the second. Tight bowling all round restricted the score to 134 which, despite the reduced number of overs available, was well within the team’s compass – or at least it would have been in the first few games of the season.
The reply didn’t start well with a wicket falling to the second ball and another wicket falling at 22. Savin Perera and Steve Allcoat then staged something of a recovery before Steve was bowled for 22 with the score on 69. Wickets then fell all too regularly until at 106 for 7, Gedling looked to be favourites to win the game. However, heroics followed from Andy Simkiss, who finished unbeaten with 17, and Savin Perera (68* with 10 4s), putting on 32 runs to complete a three wicket win with less than four overs to spare.
With Attenborough the only team winning this weekend in the Premier League, the situation in the bottom half of the table could scarcely be closer. There is only a 9 point spread between the five teams occupying 7th to 11th place in the table – the battle to avoid the drop is only just beginning!
So another hugely important game next week as the Squirrels entertain fellow bottom-halfers, Hucknall.
