NORTH KILDARE 124 all out (32 overs)
Gawtham Devarajan 45
Kevin Threadgold 4/18
HALVERSTOWN 125-6 (32 overs)
Andy Wordley 45 Lijo Joseph 26
Another good victory keeps us in the hunt at the top of the table. We won the toss and bowled first - there is no real pattern this season to whether we bat or bowl first, I think we can win games doing either. The outfield was slow and runs not easy to come by. I am beginning to think that Neville and Vishnu actually bowl too well at the start of the innings! Is that possible? Yet again the opposition scored nothing off the first 10 overs and plenty off the next 10! Vishnu bowled particularly well with 2/6 from his 5 overs. They recovered somewhat to 55-3 and were reasonably well set. Brandon Langford was then called upon at an important stage of the game (just after drinks) and bowled admirably. If this game was any guide, I think there will be more good overs to come in the future. 👏 Kevin Threadgold then entered the scene and helped to take the innings away from them by bowling accurately, moving the ball around and taking 4 wickets in 6 overs. They moved somewhat in fits and starts to a total of 124 all out.
We were reasonably confident at the break, though small totals can cause their own problems! At 12-2 we didn't get off to a great start but our resilience came to the fore yet again. A fine partnership between Andy (who batted really well for his 45) and Lijo (who really wanted to put bat to ball but played a fine, patient innings for the team) took the score to 81 before Lijo fell. At 97-5 we weren't quite home and hosed, but Paolo seemed to have more confidence in the lower order than the rest of us had (!) and flung the bat for a breezy 21. It took us to the brink of victory, with Kevin and Brandon seeing us home for a satisfying win.
Next up is a challening game away to the high-flying Tyrrelstown on Saturday. Having beaten us in Harristown, they will be confident. We just might give them something to think about when the game starts! Why not?
Written by John Threadgold.