So close, and yet...

So the big Bradley rematch turned out to be a damp squib.  Literally - a waterlogged pitch meant the game was abandoned altogether.

Now onto a this week's game which was at home against high flying Hepworth & Idle, and in much drier conditions...

In a major twist, we won the toss and elected to FIELD!  Well, batting first hasn't worked the last few weeks so maybe worth a try.  Heppy got off to a steady start, with the top four all getting starts but not progressing further, reaching 95-4 in the 19th over. That brought Luke Harland to the crease and he did move the score along with 4 sixes in a quick 56 from 40 balls.  An 9th wicket partnership of 50 from Richard Taylor(26) and Alex Robinson(20) pushed the final score up to 199 all out, leaving us chasing bang-on 200 for victory.

We got off to a good start with Ghaffer back opening, but no Kamran this week so yet another new opening partnership with Mansha filling in.  He fell for 15 with the score on 24, but then Ehsan came tot he crease looking in good nick.  Together he (32) and Ghaffer(50) took the score over a hundred, and with a good 25 from Tayyib, backed up with runs from Saqib and Gully, everything was going well.  At 156-4 and well ahead of the required run rate, the victory seemed odds-on.  And then came the collapse.  In particular, losing the last five wickets for just 15 runs was haunting.  Heppy's tail added 65 in comparison.  Hats off to Alex Robinson though - he bowled a blistering spell at the end to rip through us.  In the end we fell just 16 runs short.  I think we may have given away around that in the field if I'm honest, there were a few errors and overthrows  that added to the visitors' scoreline.  Ultimately a disappointment from waht looked like a winning position, but at least with 183 runs and a good bowling display, we picked up maximum bonus points this week.

Next week we're off to Skipton CI for the last round of the cup.  We can't progress following 2 rained off and one defeat, but at least it's a chance to regroup and strengthen further.  At home we have Eldwick against Long Lee - lots of old friends there - in another dead-rubber match, but that should just make it more entertaining as there's nothing on the line.