Rabbits stew on a hot day

Perfect conditions greeted us at Hurst Avenue on Sunday and a perfect match ensued, for us anyway! 

Riz won the toss and inserted the Paddington Rabbits on what was a pretty flat deck, albeit with the occasional gremlin the longer the game went on. Control of the game is what Skips wanted, and all the way through the match we just about held the whip hand. 

JK and Jimmy Mac took the new ball and Jimmy struck early when he cleaned up their captain for a blob. 

Up next was Ali and Shahid. Ali mostly concentrated on line and length while Shahid was the more explosive, and he was able to win the battle against the attacking Bhatia.

Mohan then took control. He settled in for the long shift and took wickets at the right time to keep us ahead of the game. He’s played for Pacific long enough to know not to not rely on our fielding (4 wickets – 3 bowled & 1 LBW). He got his length right and extracted enough turn from the pitch when needed. 

Riz hustled through his spell and picked up the last 3 wickets to fall. He took the pace off the ball for the last one which deceived their top scorer Suyesh and was smartly taken behind by Rohan. It was his first time taking the gloves and he grew into the role perfectly, well done that man! 

Tea was taken and we were happy with the target we’d been set. 

Paddington chose not to take the new ball straight away and started with two slower bowlers. A leg spinner coming up the hill and the ever sprightly octogenarian Mr Nic coming down the hill. He accounted for Mark and Joe without scoring but BOC was able to get a few lusty blows away to keep the rabbits from the door. 

He shared a 4th wicket partnership of 102 with Mohan which got us back firmly on top. Mohan took his time against the useful Suyesh, whilst BOC tucked in at the other end. The highlight being 3 fours in a row against Cooper to bring up his fifty. Mohan soon got into the swing of things and smashed the only six of the match off Ellie (off spinner) over deep mid wicket (towards the Clubhouse). 

Sadly, neither could see it through so the skipper was needed to steady the ship. A calm knock from him and a useful hard hitting cameo from Shahid took us to the brink but we then lost a couple more quick wickets. The Guildford Wall was ready to do his duty but he wasn’t needed as Ali guided one away to the boundary.

A hard fought but well deserved two wicket victory with contributions from several players. 

A quick debrief then took place at the WB Yeats where the live music may or may not have been an Irish string quartet.