Nomads lose first home game at Walsall

Lichfield Nomads - 150 all out
D2 - 153 for 5

D2 asked the Nomads to bat and skipper Terry opened with Gardner. Gardner's stay was short as he drove uppishly and was caught for 3. Adam Hughes played sensibly but neither opener was happy running quick singles and Hughes promptly tweaked his ankle restricting him even further. They were treating the bowling with respect and waiting for the bad ball and had added an important 45 before Hughes was out caught for 19. Brannigan (19) came in and played his natural game helping to up the scoring rate and then was out freakishly leathering the ball back to the bowler who took the catch seemingly without having time to react. Without Dan the momentum slowed down and Terry (27) was run out trying to force the pace. Ghosal was adjudged lbw playing back on to his stumps for his second duck of the season. Stanley was bowled for 3 and the innings was starting to stutter. Loxley batted positively and struck a couple of boundaries before being bowled for 8. The overs were running out and Fearon and Basi eked out another 21 before Basi was run out for 5. Ian Hughes played his natural game and moved to 11 before lofting a simple chance. Cartwright came out as last man and the pair reached the last over before Fearon (17) was bowled trying a pre-meditated on drive (slog).
The Nomads were pleased to have lasted until the 40th over but knew that the total of 150 was 30 or 40 runs short of par on a decent batting wicket.
Tea was kindly produced by the Cartwrights and Stephs homemade cakes went down a treat.
The Nomads knew that keeping the danger man Marsh quiet was going to be a problem. Especially with opener Davis unfortunately pulling out at the last minute due to injury. Fearon and Cartwright opened the bowling and the D2 openers were quickly ahead of the required rate of 3.75 an over. Fearon's slower ball found the edge but it didn't carry to the keeper. Hughes replaced Fearon at the pavilion end and was getting the ball to swing away from the right handers and broke the deadlock bowling the opener Frenchy. Cartwright was bowling a nice rhythm and picked up three wickets all clean bowled. By now Marsh had come to the crease and he played within himself knowing that he just had to stay out there and D2 would accumulate the runs required. Adam Hughes and Dan Brannigan bowled well enough without getting any luck. When Shaun was run out D2 still needed 46 with 5 wickets in hand and there was a glimmer of hope that a couple of wickets now would make it interesting but the batsmen played intelligently and Marsh was beginning to find his range. He celebrated his half century and the winning runs were knocked off with more than 9 overs remaining. D2 won by 5 wickets and in the end it would have needed another 50 or 60 runs to make the Nomads total competitive.
The positives were a fine captain's knock from Terry. A super spell of bowling from Cartwright and useful cameos from the three new members. Both Basi and Loxley had a bat and a bowl and Ghosal did a sterling job behind the stumps. The debut match at Walsall cricket club was a success apart from the result.
[Disclaimer: Any offence caused by this article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved]

Date: 19th May 2019
Start time: 2:00pm
Venue: Walsall C.C.
Competition: 40 overs Friendly
Scores: Lichfield Nomads 150 all out, D2 153 for 5
Result: D2 beat Lichfield Nomads by 5 wkts
Toss: D2 won the toss and elected to field.
Scorer: D. Cartwright
Umpires: I. Hughes, Fearon, A. Hughes, Gardner.
Report: P. Fearon
Weather: Cloudy, occasional sunny intervals

20/05/2019