HALVERSTOWN 1 224-6 (40 overs)
Juan Retief 69 Andy Wordley 66 Paolo Rosa 41*
Raja Imran Ali 2/27
CLONDALKIN 2 60 all out (15 overs)
Avtar Singh 5/10 Neville Case 3/20
Who would have thought that we would have such a comprehensive victory, considering that we were looking shaky at one stage in our innings? The first ten overs of the game were a weird mix of flurries of runs, clusters of wickets and three significant delays for lost balls. At 49-4 we were not going well. But Andy (for the second match in succession) and Juan steadied the ship. They took us to 94-4 at drinks, reestablished themselves after the break and then steadily increased the scoring rate. Like all fine players, they kept it simple - defending the good balls, dispatching the bad ones. When Andy fell after another very well-compiled knock, Paolo entered and did Paolo things. Juan was finally out for a very fine and well-paced innings of 69. We scored 97 off the last ten overs. You know when you've been Paolo'd! 👊
I think we had somewhat taken the wind out of their sails and as their innings progressed things got worse for them. Wickets fell regularly with first Neville & Vishnu and then Avtar doing the damage. By the end (just 15 overs of their innings!) it had turned into a thumping win. Yet again this season we had stopped and then changed the momentum of a game. In many ways that is more important than the results, though of course wins like this are hugely satisfying. If we can continue in this vein, it should stand us in good stead for the rest of the campaign.
Next up for H1 is two consecutive T20 games under the captaincy of Chris Hamilton.