Rain Spoils Exciting Finish

For the 2nd of our weekend 2-header, Nomads travelled to the lovely ground at Darley Abbey on a dull day with the forecast of rain. Darley had a very mixed team but the first 4 batsmen proved more than adequate amassing three-quarters of the total score. Turnbull and Lee opened, with Turnbull being very unlucky having 4 catches, of varying degrees of difficulty, dropped. At 166-4 and 2 retirements, Nomads reached the tail and had the moral dilemma of whether to really go for wickets with the potential return of the big hitters. A couple of catches could not really be not taken, but a run-out being accepted was a step too far and the return of J Nuttal saw an extra 30 runs added so instead of a target of 190 we had a target of 219.
Gardner and Sayle opened, with Gardner playing some vintage Gardner shots, and Nomads started well. Sayles was out cheaply but Loxley continued his good run and had a partnership with Gardner before being caught. The name of the game was to reach 50 and retire to come back in later, Gardner achieved this and it looked as if Bastable and then Cogzell would also but both fell short. However having scored 176 off 31 overs with 43 more required, it was decided that the light was deteriorating too much and the rain was becoming too heavy and so a draw was agreed. A fair result with the match evenly poised.
There was post-match debate on whether this was now a winning season. A later decision by the Chairman ruled that we had not yet achieved a winning season and this depended upon the result of the last match at Betley.

[Disclaimer: Any offence caused by this article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved]

Date: 17 September 2023
Start time: 1:00pm
Venue: Darley Abbey
Competition: 40 overs friendly
Scores: Darley Abbey 219 for 8 v Lichfield Nomads 176 for 5 (31.2 overs)
Result: Match abandoned as a draw
Toss:
Scorer: J. Hoddy
Umpires: Various
Report:
Weather: Dull, rain later

20 September 2023