16/11/25 - Indoor game

A good game tonight. 6pm start, with an inauspicious start due to the fact that the scoreboard was busted. . The team this week was pretty much the same as last week, but Kirby replaced by the official captain "Lennon" so another batter. 

We lost the toss, so we had to bat the 12 overs first. With Daniel Gray (most runs at the club last year and Elliott Noble 2nd most runs) we were in good hands in theory, these were backed up with Michael Gray (33 x 50's for the club) Ariz and Lennon both decent batters. Then me. 

I had the Gopro and set it up and videoed the whole game, so I should put this up on Youtube in the next few days. 

We didn't get off to a good start...

I wasn't even the end of the 4 over? and I found myself in the middle with Michael Gray and we were on about 25 runs and somehow needed to score realistically about 100 in order to have something to bowl at. One of us had to get through the next 8 overs and that was obviously Michael Gray, I just had to try and hang in there and try and play some shots and just not get out. I've done it before, so could I do it again? 

I could play straight shots defensively, but I don't have the skills to place those shots in the gaps, cross bats shots at balls oustdie off stump?  But they can result in dragging the ball onto the stumps or top edge to the keeper or bloke at point, but I had to try it just in order that Michael Gray was able to play shots and make runs. Over by over, I survived and when I was on strike I for the most part was able to get bat on ball once in the over and score a couple of runs and rotate the strike, although looking at the score-sheet I didn't do that as much as I thought I did. I played a couple of down on one knee slog sweeps much the hilarity of the lads watching from viewing balcony!

With no scoreboard we didn't know how we were doing, but the scoring in this format is pretty quick, a ball that hits the wall and includes a run is 3 runs. A straight ball along the ground hitting the back wall is a 4. A ball hitting the back wall only is a 6. When you're bowling the most valuable ball apart from the wicket is a dot ball, they're so significant as they're pretty rare. Anything legside is a wide - it's brutal. If you can do it, a deft late cut backward of point with a run is pretty safe and gets you three runs if it hits the side or back wall, conversely the flick off the legs backward of square-leg is the same result and just ticking along with them is the way to go if you've got that ability.

Michael has the ability to play straight and over the top, but I realised he was just playing a basic game, accruing the runs 1 or 3 at a time building an innings. There were a decent amount of wides as well and they're worth 2 runs without the extra ball. Bit by bit we were getting through it and the runs were accumulating and we played through the 11 overs and then Michael brought his "A game" for the final over as I watched from the other end. An over of 6's and a 4. The lads were saying from the blacony that if the strike was rotated I had to try and hit sixes, I thought whatever happens if there's a small hope I run anyway and get Michael back on strike, but didn't need to. 

So we ended up with 109 which in these games is a low score, so we weren't out of the woods yet.

Ariz was thrown the ball (last week he started off with 4 or 5 wides, but this week a first ball wicket! We were in the game!

Then a series of wickets fell quickly with virtually no runs being made until the captain made a stand and batted well for his 43 before being bowled by Daniel Gray in the last over, he'd left himself too much to do and hadn't got the support from his other players and the fell short by 19.

All in all for us a very good game considering how we started off. 

No wickets for me, but happy with my economy. I might get to play again?