Skipper’s Match Report 03/08/2024
Stats from Play Cricket – https://nwcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/6272144
MIMCC 168/6 (40 overs)
Abergele 2nds 172/4 (37 overs)
Abergele win by 6 wickets
Saturday’s trip to Abergele started, it’s fair to say, in odd fashion. At the scheduled start of play we had 3 players at the ground. News of the A55 being ‘a bit busy’ on weekends during the school holidays had apparently not travelled east…
With our diminished numbers, it was therefore a straightforward decision to bat as the skipper managed to win a toss for once. A 15 min delay to the start of play was negotiated and Venkat emerged from the Hon Sec’s car to be pressed into immediate service as opener alongside Abs. Abergele’s bowling attack was strong, and Venkat was soon caught in the gully to bring Umang to the crease with the score at 4-1. Overs ticked by with runs being hard to come by, and by drinks we had only reached 69-1.
Immediately after drinks a mix up between the wickets saw Umang depart run out for 15. This brought Apples to the crease fresh off his hundred against the children of Hawarden the previous week. Sadly there was to be no repeat this week as Apples struggled to find his timing against Abergele’s slower bowlers, eventually departing caught for 1.
This bought Deepak to the crease, seeking to inject some impetus into the innings. Deepak started to push the scoring rate on, and Abs began to respond in kind, passing 50 in the process. In the last 10 overs we managed to score at more than 6 an over with Deepak’s 29 and Aryaman’s 11 supporting Abs’ 86 (which pushes him past Siv as the club’s top run scorer of 2024 so far). The skipper joined Deepak to face the final ball of the innings, had a big swing, missed, ran anyway and promptly ran his partner out, and we finished on 168/6 off 40. A bit under par probably, but with 8 bowling options at our disposal there was still cause for optimism.
This optimism appeared well founded initially as Aryaman and Naseer reduced Abergele to 9-2, removing both openers bowled. Indeed, the Abergele skipper seemed to take great personal offence to having his stumps rearranged by Aryaman…..
Pictured: local Abergele grapes, generally grown behind the stumps, and noted for their low sugar content.
A third wicket followed as Naseer unleashed his cannon arm from fine leg to run out their number 3 with a direct hit. 39-3 and things were looking promising. However, this was where our luck started to change. The pitch had definitely flattened out, with the uneven bounce we had seen during our innings less in evidence, and a partnership started to build.
The skipper shuffled the pack plenty, rotating amongst our many bowling options, but the breakthrough just wouldn’t come. When it eventually did, caught by yours truly at backward point off Saboor, Abergele only needed another 40 for victory. We battled hard but they eventually got there with 3 overs to spare.
A closer game than the points really reflect, but a number of positives to take including a new highest score for Abs, a debut for Vinay, and an important lesson for all about traffic patterns on the major arterial routes of North Wales.
Another trip along the A55 for Carmel away next week and a chance to get back to winning ways.