Bashers Pleasure vs Leopards-Sun 17th July 2011

Bugs started the game in inspired form, winning the toss, and winning the discussion about whether to play from 2 ends or 1.

Bashers batted. Pothole was filled in early, and The Dog started brightly. The Dog was put down via deflection off partner Tiny at the non-strikers end to be caught mid-on. The Rock showed exceptional bat speed, but couldn’t convert this potential into runs, and soon Shit Shoes was in on debut.

Shit Shoes and Tiny built the best Bashers partnership of the innings, in spite of their running between the wickets. Bashers were well placed at 96-3 at drinks, but the middle order were thrown out in a cascade of wickets. Special mention goes to A  Trois for spectacular dismissal, with him going at full tilt in one direction, and stumps splattered in the other direction. Tank was run out when Puberty decided that his fine on-drive did not deserve to take him off nought. Puberty and Billy finished the innings with spirited resistance, which proved to be significant in the final analysis. Bashers were all out off the last ball, 158 the total. Extras contributed a healthy 41. You have to be a good player to score more than extras in this standard.

Billy set the tone for the Leopards innings by scaring the life out of their openers. The Dog, operating vigorously into the breeze, kept the Leopards on a tight leash, and picked up 3 wickets, with 2 good catches from Shit-Shoes. Early in the piece, the Leopards were swishing around like blind men swatting at Shanghai mosquitoes, thanks to good Bashers bowling. The Leopards batting improved, and they started to hit rather than miss, so the momentum began to swing to them. This just encouraged the Captain to step up to the plate. Bugs took the fifth Leopards wicket in the over before drinks, leaving the game finely balanced, with the Leopards a few big blows from victory, and the Bashers needing a quick flurry of wickets.

After drinks, it proved to be the latter, with Bugs dominating proceedings. Tank took a fine running catch, which even surprised himself, and the Leopards had their spots knocked off them. Bugs finished the match with his 5th wicket – he had been well supported by A  Trois behind the stumps, and by his other bowlers. Bashers home by 20 runs, Leopards 7 overs unused.

• Sunday 17 July 2011 SRFC Far
  Leopards CC 134/10 (3.34)
  Bashers Pleasure 158/10 (7.58)

So Bashers Pleasure retired to celebrate victory. The Leopards sat down and had a good chat (this team talk a lot), and licked their wounds. Bashers Pleasure would like to salute Dazzler for his effort in the Business game, but wish to commiserate with the team for their loss. The Business in turn were very supportive in the naming and induction of Shit Shoes in the Camel. Most importantly, Babs confirmed that Pleasure’s man-of-the-day Bugs would continue to boost his score later on.

2011 Division Two