Atherstone 237 all out, Fillongley 150 all out

Atherstone took over from us at the top of the Premier division after an 87 run win netted them the full 24 points. With Phil sorting out all manner of problems on the roads, Azza won the toss and did what we always do. Atherstone started quickly as is their way, with Matt Pickering and Reeves taking 30 off the first four overs. Binga then yorked Pickering and could have had his brother caught in the same over. As has been the case the last two times we have played Atherstone one batsman got in and made a big score. Last year at Atherstone Matt Pickering made nearly 150, and in May his brother made 84 not out with hardly any runs coming from anybody else. This time Luke Reeves made an excellent 110 off 105 balls before being sixth out with score on 171 in the 34^th over.  At this point we were back in the game, with the possibility of nicking a few overs, but the lower order bats stuck at it well to lift the total to 237, which was a good score on this pitch.

Just as in May, Pickering found the edge in his first over and we lost Ben Fleming. Worse followed with Pro and Chris Hill out with the score at 18. Azza and Tom Barber then put on 84 for the fourth wicket. At drinks we needed less than six and over with two bats going well. Atherstone then turned to Reeves and Clements who slowed the scoring rate down and drew risky aerial shots. Inevitably both were caught going for big shots, and when the opening bowlers returned for the 42^nd over we were 144-6 and faced with the sort of rearguard action we are not very good at. 150 all out with 3 overs to go was a pretty disappointing way to finish.

So we are 4^th, nine points behind Atherstone. Seven of the 12 teams in the league have been leaders at one time. Next week it’s Bablake who have come up on the rails and are currently second.