Accelerate Automotive Bloomfield Premier 4 vs. Feilding CC
Saturday, 9th of December at Kowhai Park 1
With close games being a theme for the season, last week's loss to PNBHS 3rds was a bit of an eye-opener. Floundering at the bottom of the table isn't quite so bad when you know that, for the sake of a few key moments going the other way, you might be 2nd. This week's game against the top-of-the-table Feilding was a chance for us to show that we really are contenders for the P4 title. Captain Dawson won the toss and decided to bowl.
With the P3 side packed, Ben McKelvie decided he might like to join us and have a bowl on the absolute belter of a wicket provided by Feilding CC. He opened up from the Manfield end and bowled Luke Harding off his 3rd ball. George opened from the other end and picked up the wickets of both Gareth Young and Bryan Hill before Ben came back to grab the wicket of Dylan Boyce, leaving Feilding in tatters at 10 for 4. Eli and Captain Dawson then took up the bowling.
Eli struggled to find his line early and went for a few runs before finding some rhythm that caused the batsmen some trouble. He picked up the wicket of Stacey Graham for 10, while Captain Dawson was busy doing some exceptionally boring bowling at the other end. It was so boring that Aaron Kereama must have nodded off and missed a straight one and was out LBW for 6. Eli grabbed the wicket of Connor Magill, who mistimed a shot to Gaz at Mid on, and at 48 for 7, Feilding was going to have to dig in just to reach drinks.
Captain Boring and Eli were replaced by Beven (B-Cat) and Dave Cannonball. B-Cat rolled on in and hit the mark straight away, while Cannonball was a little more wayward, taking an over to find his length. Drinks came and went, and B-cat and Cannonball finished off the tail, bowling Feilding out for 70.
With a target of only 71, it's fair to say we were reasonably confident. That confidence lasted all of about 3 overs. Greg copped a beamer first ball, which I'm sure he will state as the reason he was bowled for a duck by Luke Harding 3 balls later. Tyler rocked up to face the next ball, but Luke sent him packing LBW for 0. Hayden managed to see out the remainder of the over, leaving us 1 for 2. After seeing the carnage at the other end, George must have decided that a conservative approach might be best. He left his first ball and it bowled him. Laurence came for a look but struggled to get his timing and was eventually out caught for 4.
That's when the Powerful Pooh Bear, Steven Rowlett, rolled up and together with Hayden, put on a much-needed 20-run partnership. Hayden rotated the strike nicely while Steven plundered. The plundering came to an abrupt halt when The Powerful Pooh Bear was caught going big. He added a very valuable 17 to an innings that was going to go down to the wire.
B-Cat strolled up to the crease and dug in straight away. His 3 off 17 pushed us a bit closer before he was bowled by Stacey Graham. Eli rocked up and smashed a 4 and then was caught, leaving it up to Gaz and Hayden to finish the job. It looked as if they might just do it as Gaz played some lovely shots to rotate the strike, and Hayden hadn't looked like getting out all day. With only 2 runs required, Gaz was bowled between his legs, which was good for a laugh. Cannonball replaced him and hit a single, allowing Hayden to finish a fantastic innings off by hitting the winning run. A great win that will help us get our season back on track.
MVP: Hayden 3, Bevan 2, Steven 1.
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