Exciting tie at Stoneygate

Nomads travelled to Stoneygate, a late replacement for Trentside,. Stoneygate have also had problems with teams pulling out of fixtures but the promise of a tea lured the Nomads out to Market Harborough. Arriving at a lovely ground, the promised rain seemed to be holding off and Nomads elected to bat with the new partnership of Pete Gardner and Dan Moss. The start was very slow with only a bye coming off the first 4 overs and |Moss was soon out to a ball he left but which came back significantly. Gardner was settling into to his role of anchor man to the next 3 batsmen. Dan Brannigan had an exciting knock in an innings consisting of 5 fours and a single before mistiming a drive and being caught in the deep. However John Loxley and Aneek Mahmood continued the big hitting. Gardner had been unlucky to be caught well in the covers when attempting to open up. Jules Ellis and Rich Bastable contributed the attack and perished going for runs. Jim Cogzell and Dave Rolfe seeing the innings to a respectable 220 for 7.
With a shortish boundary on one side, this might have been slightly below par but still gave us a good chance of winning the match.
Stoneygate started agressively with Stretton, in particular, targeting the leg side but Mahmood claimed the 2 openers, one a lbw and a magnificent diving catch by Gardner in the slips. Moss was proving expensive and was replaced with Daz Cartwright. Mahmood completed his excellent spell and Jim Cogzell come on, bowling well and unlucky not to claim a wicket.. However Cartwright claimed the dangerous looking N Gutteridge with another splendid catch in the slips by Gardner. Hoddy also came on and claimed C Gutteridge on 76 with another good catch by Ellis and Farland with yet another fine catch by Mahmood. The game was now getting really tight. Stoneygate had looked to be cruising but with the wickets plus a couple of run-outs saw the match teetering on a knife edge. The last over bowled by Cartwright had Stoneygate needing only 5 runs to win. Daz was nerveless denying the opposition scoring options. The last ball saw the opponents needing 1 run to tie and they managed to scramble a leg-bye.
In the circumstances the best result and the game of cricket was the winner.
The Nomads kept plugging away when things seemed lost and fully deserved the tie with great contributions by everyone and some excellent fielding
[Disclaimer: Any offence caused by this article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved]

Date: 29 August 2022
Start time: 1:00pm
Venue: East Langton C.C.
Competition: 40 overs Friendly
Scores: Lichfield Nomads 220 for 7, Stoneygate 220 for 8,
Result: Stoneygate tied with Lichfield Nomads
Toss: Lichfield Nomads won the toss and elected to bat.
Scorer: J. Hoddy
Umpires: Various
Report: J. Hoddy
Weather: Cloudy

7 Sept 2022