Having amassed 310-3 in our corresponding away fixture and nearly had it chased, some punters may have been expecting another run fest. However those punters don’t have the intimate knowledge of the Hollies and it’s ever changing nature. That ground is living and breathing and decides, on a whim, how it will play weekend to weekend. Some legend hit 100 off 30 balls on here two weekends ago? Ask Barron who batted superbly for 30 off 100 balls, give or take. This was a day where even the man bear Max Gumpert was tamed to a less than run a ball strike rate.

Toss won and in the field, it was Bolshaw, bowling for the final time as an unmarried man, who went BANG BANG to get us going. He clean bowled number 2 and 3 in consecutive balls and boy was that exciting. Everyone else chipped away (wickets spread between 5 bowlers and 2 run outs) and we fought hard to restrict to 182 all out. Special credit to captain Gray for some very accurate field placements and a nifty run out, and debutant G Tunna for keeping us energised and up for the occasion every over. Withers’ 1%ers executed well.

Feeling like a decent chase was still required, Barron and Suri took us out at the turn and settled into their natural games sensually, putting on 71 for the first wicket and setting up the chase perfectly. Platform established, JB just carried on batting his way - not letting anything phase him and focussing on ball by ball accrual of runs. A really well made 69 (104) that felt and looked like it deserved a few more and red ink, if not for a challenging wicket and the overall slow scoring nature of the game.

Leo (that’s me) Connolly batted at 4 and tickled it round for 42 up the other end, sharing a stand of 62 with his new mate JB to get us pretty much all the way home. A quick flurry of wickets when we were 8 shy of the total did add another layer of intrigue to the game… 175-3 became 177-6 after DP ran himself out without facing. Eager. Too eager.

Alls well that ends well and soon enough the lads were enjoying the handshakes and a debrief circle. Really really impressive team performance to win another hard fought game of league cricket. Everyone was involved and added value to the outcome of the match. We are aligned as a team and ready for the challenges that face us for the remaining regular season.

Ploughing out until the next time.
Canelo

Match report produced by Leo Connolly