St's met new to the grade ES Strikers at St Albans Park 1. The toss was critical as the pitch was damp with a soft top which, for the first 20 odd overs produced tennis ball bounce which made scoring hard. Easts called correctly and inserted us. Gibby and Hampo put on 48 for the first wicket, which took them overs due to some good bowling and the aforementioned bounce. Gibby out first, followed 2 balls later by Jimmy. Rich Mather joined Hampo and combined for a good 50 partnership. 3 quick wickets, including Hampo for a well compiled 51 saw us sitting at 110/5 after 33. Some late oder hitting by Flav (22*) and Eagle (17*) saw us end with 154/6 (Flav thankful to Wellsy who ran 19 of his 22 after a wee hammy strain).
Thoughts during the innings break were 15 to 20 runs short. Wellsy and Eagle opened up and bowled well, 2 early wickets to Eagle to have the East boys 14/2, this moved thru to 42 before the third wicket fell. The winning partnership then put on 80, Navi hitting 43 and Saurav 50. We fought back well after the drinks break to see 5 wickets fall for 28 runs but in the end Easts snuck home with 2 wickets in hand. Eagle 4/27 and Potty 3/23.
A good game against a nice bunch of guys, several of whom told me they are really enjoying the grade and feel welcome, which is great to hear.
Cheers Potty
