HALVERSTOWN 163-9 (40 overs)

Tojo Thomas 33, Vishnu Yannam 26, Kevin Threadgold (19*)

Khan Khan 3/21, Abi Pandey 2/17

GOREY 164-9 (40 overs)

Abi Pandey 36, Umar Khan 36, Razwan Ahmed 30

Neville Case 5/24, Vishnu Yannam 3/18

Maturity has given me a level-headed perspective and I was philosophical about this defeat. The fact that I woke screaming at 3 a.m. must have been just an unfortunate coincidence.

Last ball finishes are as rare as calm, warm and gloriously sunny afternoons in April yet both happened on the opening day of the season when Halverstown hosted Gorey last Sunday. Thanks to the work of those involved, the ground was in decent condition for cricket considering the rain of the past few months.

We won the toss and - somewhat uncertainly - chose to bat. We struggled to 20-3 off 8 overs with three of our best batsmen gone. I wondered might we even make a game of it but we recovered well, steadily at first and with some fireworks near the end. Vishnu batted beautifully (supported by Seán Conroy) but was out just before the drinks break. At 72-5 from 21 overs, again things weren't looking particularly rosy. But Kevin Threadgold held the innings together while Craig Holman and Tojo Thomas (33 including three 6s) brought us to a very respectable total of 163-9 considering the soft outfield and the poor start. In other years we might have folded, but it was pleasing to see some resilience in the batting and with ability right down the order, it will be great if we can continue in this vein throughout the season. I thought to myself that the game was about 50-50 and little did I know how correct that thought would prove to be!

Neville Case and Vishnu, such dependable bowlers, bowled tidily at the start of their innings. We took a couple of early wickets and after 8 overs they were 23-2. However, the next 12 overs saw them score 80 runs for the loss of 1 wicket and at the drinks break they were well in the driving seat at 103-3. As has happened before, we couldn't capitalise on a good bowling start and lost our way a bit despite rotating the bowlers in a bid to retain some control. At drinks we resolved to go on the attack as we reckoned we would need to bowl them out to win. Enter Neville! He took 4/7 off his next four overs to leave them at 130-7, needing 34 with 3 wickets left. He was well supported by Craig who bowled well on debut and took his first wicket for Halverstown. It was the one period in the game where I thought we might be favourites to win and they still needed 20 with the last pair at the wicket.

The game was really tight from then to the finish. We dropped two catches in that period despite the best efforts of Andy Wordley and Lijo Joseph who bowled bravely and well under real pressure. Lijo bowled the last over and with them needing 2 from it, the game continued in the balance. A tight and tense over went to the very last ball and with bodies everywhere, they scrambled a run for the narrowest of possible victories. It was cricket at its best, a full 80 overs of twists and turns followed by a nail-biting finish. While naturally disappointed to lose in such a manner, I think we can be optimistic about the season ahead with a talented and upbeat bunch of cricketers!

In conclusion, an insight into the extensive pre-season preparation of our leading wicket-taker, Neville Case:

January

Captain: "Happy New Year!"

Neville: "I'm not even sure I'll play this year."

February

Captain: "Interested in nets?"

Neville: "May is time enough."

March

Captain: "Looking forward to the season?"

Neville: "I've a sore knee."

April

Captain: "Are you available for Sunday?"

Neville: "Definitely."