Fillongley 201-9,   Bablake Old Boys 203-7

We lost our game against Bablake this afternoon and now the chances are that we are going to finish mid table come next month.

Bablake won the toss and for the first time this season we found ourselves batting first. Instead of relying on Steve Swaffield and Tom Cowley, Bablake used their younger bowlers in the first half of our innings. This paid off when J Desouza dismissed Reg and Pro with his first two deliveries. We struggled after that, and reached a low point of 75-6 after only 17 overs. Given that last week the last four wickets put on 6 runs things looked pretty grim, but a 68 run partnership between Tom Nightingale and Andy Moore gave hopes for a defendable total, and our tail gave Tom support at the end of the innings. A total of 201-9 was pleasing in the circumstances. After drinks Cowley and Swaffield came on bowling to more defensive fields, and we scored only 50 off the last 20 overs (but didn’t get bowled out!). Tom made 80 not out including 28 singles, the first of which was run 46. That gives an idea of the way the spinners curtailed the scoring rate.

Bablake started well and got to 75-1 in 14 overs. Luke Desouza, who has had a few mentions in the papers, looked a very good opener, and Pyott scored some quick runs. Collapse followed though, and by drinks the score was 92-6 and the game had turned on its head. Richard Swaffield made 27 off 16 balls but was out with the score at 122. This brought together Guy Eames and J Desouza, and this pair put together an unbeaten stand of 80. Bablake reached their target in the 46^th over, with Eames reaching 50 with the winning hit.

So 7 points and realistically our chances of winning the league have probably gone, or maybe not because teams below us still think they are in it. Bablake deserved their win, but a few eyebrows were raised when they celebrated with a few cans of warm Carling that they had brought with them (£6.50 for 8 cans or £16.99 for 24 from Bargain Booze). The best buy though is 15 cans for ten quid from Tesco and Asda. If cash is tight Fosters can work out a few pence cheaper.  Always like to be helpful.