Lumberjack: Pleasure v. Daredevils, 20 March 2014

The squad for Pleasure’s first match of the season arrived at SRFC with the weather clearing. The bus driver was allegedly arrested meaning taxis from the Camel, while there were a few changes to the named team, including some back-and-forth with the Business squad. The upshot was Mardi Gras joining Pleasure for his maiden Bashers game, while Dags made his D1 debut on the near field.

Swoop lost the toss, and Pleasure were inserted on a soggy outfield. Tantric and Korean started solidly but slowly, the heavy track making it difficult to score along the ground. After 7 of the scheduled 27 overs, Korean tried to hit one over the top but holed out behind the bowler. Then followed a minor collapse with a couple of run outs and Mardi Gras unluckily falling to a diving catch in the covers. Spanner and Post-op were luckier as they steadied the innings with a bit of help from the Devils fielders, and began to increase the run rate. Just as progress was being made, Post-op holed out, Swoop missed a straight one, and Spanner lost the strike. The lower order battled to lift the score to 105, all out in the last over, of which Spanner had contributed 32 including the only boundaries of the innings.

The fielding effort had to be something special, and all of the players looked the business in the warm-up, except for Post-op who played with his remote-control toy. Hard On and Swoop opened up and mixed up some good, swinging deliveries with a few wides, but failed to get the breakthrough. The fielding early on was a mixture of the good – Spanky in particular sliding around the boundary- and the not so good as a few aerial shots went untouched because the fielder reacted too slowly.

Post-op came on and the frequency of wides increased, although there were a few good balls and an edge through the vacant first slip, before he fell victim to the tacky underfoot conditions and twisted an ankle. Long Dong also had a trundle and got Pleasure’s first wicket of the season, Swoop settling under the catch. The Devils continued to pick up singles along with the odd boundary and were chasing the target so comfortably that drinks were not taken at the half-way stage with fewer than twenty runs required.

Then Spanky came on to bowl and totally changed the mood of the game. He worked up some real pace, ignoring the slippery footing and steaming in, causing the Devils batsmen plenty of discomfort. Shitshoes at the other end (actually the same end as we were only bowling one way) found his length early and forced the batsmen to make the pace on the ball. At the same time, the fielding intensity increased, with Sharapova and Mardi Gras almost pulling off runouts, and singles now being cut off. Three wickets fell for a handful of runs: Spanky’s short-pitched barrage drew a bottom edge which was well held by Korean with the gloves,then Shitshoes induced a top edge which was claimed by the now immobile Post-op at slip, and also trapped a batsman in front with an arm ball.

The opposition eventually got the runs they needed, but it was a good, fighting finish to what had otherwise been a disappointing game, despite good performances from Spanner with the bat and Spanky with the ball.

Bashers Pleasure 105 (Spanner 32)
Daredevils 106/4 (Shitshoes 2 wickets)