8 April 2018, Pleasure v Dynamite Devils

Pleasure came up short against what is usually the lesser of the Devils’ D2 teams in a day of disappointment and bloodshed.

It started optimistically – as Captain Bambi sat in the vestibule outside Cages waiting to be let in, he was very confident about out prospects, noting the stacked middle order including 2017 run machine Tango, 2017 centurion Ambassador, and recent D1 top-scorer Sensation. The rest of the team also had a solid look to it with a variety of batting and bowling options, and some youth and pace to run around in the field.

At Wellington, after a comfortable ride on a roomy bus, the optimism continued despite a lost toss. Bashers batted first with Pleasure stalwarts Korean and Swoop taking guard. Swoop didn’t last long, then President Paps came in at first drop and was immediately dropped first ball. At the time this seemed like good fortune, but his day would have gone a lot better overall if the fielder had been on his game. Paps got stuck into the Devils’ bowling, and mixed some powerful shots with some fielder assistance to spearhead a rapid 50+ partnership with Korean, who bunted and blocked his way to 13 before departing with the innings well set up at 65-2 in the tenth over and the aforementioned stacked middle order to come.

Soon after this came the defining memory of the day. Our President, on 32, faced up as a medium pacer came in from the book depository end and hurled a beamer which dipped at the last moment to cop our club figurehead square on the jaw. Before you could say sic semper tyrannis, Paps hit the ground, and was quickly stripped of his ornaments and ushered off the field, dripping blood and clasping on to the remains of a tooth.

That may have been the low point of the innings, but it didn’t get too much higher. The middle order didn’t live up to its billing – Ambassador and Tango fell in single figures while Sensation lofted a spinner for six over long off, but was soon trapped in front by the same bowler for 15. Bambi tried to get something going with the lower order, contributing 21 while running out Skiddy, and Damascus looked solid for his not out, but Oddjob and Warcry didn’t get on the board.

The upshot of all of this was that the last 7 wickets fell for 68 and Pleasure were all out with almost five overs unused. It would take a great effort with ball and hands for the remaining ten players to get our second win, to go with two losses. For the first half of the fielding innings, it looked like this might be the case.

Warcry and Swoop opened the bowling, and both got a lot of swing making it difficult for the batsmen to score. Swoop bowled five overs which included a maiden and only 11 runs, while Warcry conceded 12 off four, and picked up two wickets (bowled and LBW). Bambi next turned to spin, with Skiddy and Damascus coming on and keeping control. Skiddy picked up another LBW, and the Devil who was standing in for Paps threw one to Korean for a run out. The ground fielding overall was sharp and committed, with Bambi and Sensation pulling in what looked like certain boundaries, Ambassador becoming the second S. Jolly of the day to stop the ball with his face, and Oddjob somehow getting his feet to any shot hit near him, even if the ball wasn’t moving. At drinks the score was under fifty with four wickets down, and the Bashers were right on top.

When play resumed, unfortunately, things went downhill fairly fast. The Devils withdrew the fielder they had lent us at drinks, and this opened up a lot more scoring opportunities. After conceding only one four before the break, we now averaged a boundary an over. The bowling was a bit looser, the batting was a bit more aggressive, and the fielding was definitely less tidy. There were a number of chances that went down, some easy and some hard. At one stage Sensation, who had come on to bowl when Skiddy finished his overs (1 for 24 including a maiden), could have had the Devils’ best batsman out twice in an over, but neither chance was accepted and he went on to get a fifty, pretty much ending our chances. To add insult to Sensation’s injury, Skiddy later tried to crash tackle him in the field.

Bambi had one final crack at forcing some wickets, bringing himself on and hatching a plan to put all of the fielders square of the wicket and bowl short. I wouldn’t say that the plan worked as he went for plenty, but he did got one wicket out of it, caught by Korean. As the target neared, Warcry came back to get his third wicket, caught by Bambi, but it wasn’t enough to stop them passing our total with more than two overs to spare.

Main lesson of the day: wear helmets, Bashers.  You are not as good , as youthful, as lucky, or as sober as you think you are. Why risk it?