After winning the toss with the lucky £1, Lloyd inserted Hangleton. This appears to be our best strategy. It gives bowlers time and confidence to do their jobs knowing that we can chase pretty much anything, especially on the home track.
The decision paid instant dividends with Adam taking a wicket first up. Adam is hitting the deck quite hard at the moment and when he gets the length right delivers some awesome deliveries as he did on Saturday. Finally he got the results of his endeavours and ended with a 4 for. On a good track there was always going to be partnerships and, as previous weeks, it was vital we kept plugging away and scrapping for every wicket and point. At 144 for 3 hangleton had formed a good partnership, picking runs up and despatching the bad ball. It took Adam's return to break the partnership and form there we managed to chip away and go through them. Lloyd and Nick bowling effectively went through the tail and from 144 for 3 with 20 overs left to 218 all out was a massive effort. A lot of teams would have been at damage limitation at 144 for 3 but we remained on the attack knowing that wickets meant points and we'd chase anything put our way. After a hearty tea we set about the chase. Matt Martin got a good nut first up and was an early casualty. Unfortunately as a batter one good nut can end your day where as a bowler one bad ball means you have at least 5 to make it back. Matt will get runs. Jamie Carter started confidently but unfortunately top edged a pull into his face. A big shiner came up and he had to take a break. Jamie Oxley was welcomed to the team and proved to be very accomplished. some positive drives brought him to a well earned 30 before cutting a catch to point. Runs were coming quickly as the pitch was good. lloyd came in at 5 after bruising his finger in the field and guided us home with a 44no.
This was a solid performance again and we have to keep remembering that one ball changes it, always has, always will. We remain chirpy in the field and always encourage each other. Although individuals can and will influence passages of play and games only a TEAM can win a league or division. Lloyd is learning very fast the frustration you get as a skipper during a game and learning how to deal with them and LEAD everyone. Its never easy but I was taught in business that "The pace of the team is dictated by the pace of the leader" this applies to sporting team events as well. If the skipper is up and buoyant then the team follows regardless of the actual state or position of the game. No one likes to lose and the 4's will lose games at some point playing attacking cricket but if everyone is positive you learn from these games. You should learn from wins, losses and draws. In any result if you are positive then you look at the positives, develop them and improve. If there's negativity then the focus is always the main focal point even when positives are there. I'll stop banging on now but positivity is the key.
Top of the league still which is an amazing feet and one we should all be very proud of. We continue to keep moving forward whoever comes in to the team. There is a buzz around the 4's at present and hopefully this will continue to the season end where we could, maybe, win the division. There's our target chaps. Play hard, play fair, play with FUN.
Scorecard
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