Saturday June 12th 2021

So if last week was run fest, this week turned into a nail-biting fest as all three games went down to the last over. The outcome could easily have been three wins but we have to settle for one win and two losses.

The 4th team take pride of place this week recording their first win of the season against Chilwell 2nd XI at The Strand. Batting first, Chilwell posted a total of 217 for 9 from their 45 overs with Dillan Gill picking up 4 for 39 and Harjit Singh 2 for 20. A challenging total to chase down but, with a very impressive unbeaten 73 from Harjit Singh and 66 from captain Sam Randall (taking him past 1,00 runs for the 4ths), a win was always in sight. As the final over began 3 were needed with 3 wickets left. The first ball saw a wicket that brought Sam Dickinson to the crease who wonderfully clattered his very first ball for 6 over mid wicket to win the game. Great stuff!

The 3rd XI were also in action against Chilwell – this time against their 1st XI at the Hetley Pearson ground. Heavily reliant on one batsman, who was dismissed for 98 by Owen Crofts, Chilwell put together 214 for 7 from their 45 overs with captain Charlie Simkiss taking 4 for 34 and James Binnie delivering 5 maidens in his 9 over spell for just 25 runs. At 159 for 2 with Ben Sheppard on a masterful 107 all was looking good. Suddenly however the score slipped to 159 for 5 with Ben dismissed and the picture wasn’t looking quite so rosy. The 3rds finished agonisingly just 2 runs short of Chilwell’s score with the final two batsmen at the crease. So close!

For the 2nd XI there was a trip to Caythorpe to play their 2nd XI. Winning the toss and batting first, an opening partnership of 52, helped by a fair number of wides, from the first 13 overs by Angad Singh and Josh Wilson got the team off to a decent start. However that 4 an over start was not improved on through the remainder of the innings and, despite losing only 3 wickets, only 11 4s were struck as the team finished on a disappointing 195. Jude Noble hit an unbeaten 59 and Josh Wilson made 46. Caythorpe’s reply got off to a difficult start with so many play and miss shots as skipper George Barker and Alistair Lee pegged them back to 43 for 4 from 16 overs with Ali taking 3 for 12 from 6 overs. Caythorpe however showed great resolve and skills as they then built a 100 run partnership in 17 overs before Arjun Sandhu with 3 wickets put the Squirrels back in with a chance. However it wasn’t to be as Caythorpe surpassed the Attenborough score with just 4 balls and two wickets to spare – a win they deserved.

Graham Shaw