Twas a dark and drizzly mid summers evening... yada yada yada. As keeper Darren Tempany summed up "Had a good win. Team batted well for 166 and bowling/fielding were tight." Here's a little more detail.
Winning the toss on a gloomy evening with 2 players still to arrive, skipper Rees decided to bat. Pete Sylvester and Tempany got off to flying start scoring consistently at just under 10 per over. A four followed by a six prompted Murray Walker-esque speculation from Faisal that Darren would reach fifty within the over. And it proved fatal with Tempany missing an in-swinger that otherwise would have got him six closer to retirement.
Lucius got off to an unusually cautious start until a thin edge went straight to keepers glove. Shortly after Sylvester's constant flow of well timed strokes was replaced with more aggressive batting, he succumbed to a straight one from Farukh.
Justin Roy and James McDonnell proved a productive pair, rapidly putting on 60-ish runs before McDonnell missed a straight one from sometime Pacific player, Dan Bird. Rees only managed three off the last three balls and Pacific finished on a very respectable 166.
Victoria Lounge's opening pair began well, chasing down the 10 run per over rate off less than perfect bowling from Rees and Alexander. However Tempany's quick thinking and accurate arm scored a brilliant run out with a direct hit at the far end stumps.
Bringing on Korangoankar and Faisal helped stem the run rate and both were unlucky not to claim a scalp but Lounge's batsmen were well in by now.
Another change brought on McDonnell whose quicker pace claimed the only two wickets for Pacific's bowlers. The required run rate climbed rapidly to reach 25 off the last over. Lounge's Jo threw everything he had at Rees's last over but couldn't disguise his charge down the track. After three cunningly placed dot balls, the target was beyond Lounge and Pacific maintained their unbeaten record in Division 2 of the Victoria Park Community Cricket League.
