Wednesbury Lord it over the Nomads

Curtains were pulled back to reveal solid cloud cover and rain. Plenty of it. The morning was spent waiting for the almost inevitable cancellation message. It never came. On the way to the ground the sun put in an appearance. The car park was muddy, an indication of the amount of rain that had fallen in the last day. Cricket Clubs have covers for a reason. The wicket, whilst worn, was playable. The outfield was in a surprisingly good condition.
Loxley won the toss and elected to bat first. Young Rahul, operating from a very long run, bowled a tight spell, conceding only 4 runs from his first 4 overs. Loxley was dismissed by a ball that just disturbed the off bail. Scoring was difficult. The total was only 26 after the first 10 overs. Some meaty blows from Parsonage seemed to encourage Gardner to find his range. The score doubled in the next five overs. Ellis ensured that the competition for the Gonad Trophy remains alive. Cogzell seemed to find conditions to his liking. He shared a partnership of 76 before a tiring Gardner was caught in the deep for a well-made 59. Cogzell powered on to make a well-deserved maiden 50. The innings closed on 193-8. Would it be enough?
The key to the innings, and the match, appeared to be the batting of Lord. Hughes had ideas of his own. After five overs, the score was 6 for 3 with all the wickets falling to Hughes. He bowled unchanged to record figures of 7-1-12-4. The only problem was that Lord remained as the not out batsman. A century partnership with Deep shifted the balance of the game firmly in favour of Wednesbury. A facial injury to Lord caused his temporary retirement and a significant slowing of the scoring rate. Basi dismissed Deep with a delivery that kept very low. Gibson chipped in with a wicket. Unfortunately, for the Nomads, Lord had returned to the wicket by this time. Victory for Wednesbury was secured with 9 balls to spare.
The long-promised rain returned with a vengeance on the way home. Weather forecasters: what do they know?

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

Date: 8 Sept 2024
Start time: 1:00pm
Venue: Wednesbury
Competition: 40 overs friendly
Scores: Lichfield Nomads 193 for 8 v Wednesbury 199 for 6
Result: Wednesbury won by 4 wkts
Toss: Lichfield Nomads won the toss and elected to bat.
Scorer: J. Hoddy
Umpires: Various
Report: K. Stanley
Scorecard: J. Hoddy
Weather: Surprisingly dry

11 Sept 2024