3s Slip to Barton Defeat

The skipper won the toss and elected to bat first on a very hard surface.

Beggers and Glyn opened and formed a decent opening stand of 45 before Beggers fell caught and bowled for 10 in the 14th over. Martin followed straight after the early drinks break, chipping to mid-on, meaning a slight rebuild was required on a track that suggested we needed 200. Elliott, making his 3s debut on return from a knee injury, joined Glyn and settled in whilst Glyn continued to play quite expansively; moving on to 48 before being bowled with the score 68 in the 20th over.
A crucial part of the game followed as Rob Noble joined Elliott and, following three wickets in five overs for the first Barton spinner, a big partnership was required to post a decent score. Thankfully they delivered as a mix of patient batting, some good running and picking up frequent boundaries took the score to 151 when Rob (32) found long-off trying to push on in the 36th over. Kafait (13), Aaadil (12*) & Zac (2*) all played their part in progressing the score as much as possible. Elliott was the final wicket to fall for a very well constructed 68. The score finished 199-6, just shy of the maximum batting points score of 200.

Glyn opened with Kafait and whilst Glyn threatened without luck, the tight bowling of Kafait (8-4-13-1) built pressure to gain a wicket from his token slower ball as the batsman chipped back to him trying the hit through the leg side.
Rob and Elliott formed a bowling partnership this time and Rob claimed the other opener to leave the score poised at 71-2 from 18 overs. Elliott's spell was unfortunately ended early by his niggling knee which brought Zac into the attack to try and claim some more wickets as Barton were making very decent progress. After some brief off spin from Martin brought boundaries instead of wickets, the required run rate was reduced to just over four as Barton required 69 off 17 overs but crucially still eight wickets in hand.
It still felt like the game was very much on and a couple of wickets could change everything. Some slight fielding errors had crept in but a collective push did deliver improvement for the latter stages. Zac did break the partnership, though it came later than hoped in the 35th over and the score now on 160.
Glyn and Rob returned at the end to try and get us over the line but only one more wicket was claimed by Rob before the winning runs were struck at the beginning of the penultimate over. A six wicket win sealed for Barton.

It was a very close game and albeit frustrating to lose another narrow game it was still a great effort all round. Two big home games remain against teams around us in the table where we aim to secure our spot in the third division.

Matt Brett