We’re on a roll! 2 wins from 2 games! I’ve now equaled the number of defeats as DCC captain with the number of victories!
This week our opponents were Stirling County who after the first game were sitting top of the league after thrashing Callander the previous week and scoring the maximum batting and bowling bonus points to go with their points for winning the game, so we had a tough match in prospect. After another won toss (yup, 2 in a row!) I again elected to bat as we seem to panic less setting a score than we do chasing. Adam and Fox opened and unfortunately Adam fell early to a great one handed reaction catch by their wicket keeper. That brought myself in with Fox and it was a case of batting some overs and keep the scoreboard ticking, trying to keep in front of the minimum 9 per over to score at least 1 bonus point. I fell 3 runs short of retiring when trying to ‘nurdle’ one down to the corner of the hall and instead spooned it straight to the guy stood in front of me who took a pretty simple chance. Cammie then joined Fox and soon set to work, at one point trying to hit a ball straight through the wall of the gym and onto Back Lane! Maybe a little bit softer next time Cammie! Fox managed to get to 25 which is the enforced retirement level which brought Stuart to the crease. The two keepers batted well together and kept the scoreboard ticking, until Cameron got caught which brought Greg to the crease. The innings were drawing to a close and we were looking for every last run which lead to a few near misses and the demise of Stuart dancing down the track looking for a big shot to the back wall. This brought Fox back in for the last 5 balls of the innings but unfortunately a bit of miscommunication between the two batsmen lead to a run out and our innings came to a close. We scored 109 which is a massive improvement on the 83 we scored the previous week and gave us a great target to defend.
I handed the ball to Fox to open the bowling and it couldn’t have gone better. Well it could have gone better had we held onto one of the 3 chances we had in the first 3 balls of the game!!! First a nick behind to Buck and we were already celebrating only to see the ball bounce out of the safest pair of hands in DCC, much to Bucks dismay. 2nd ball of the innings saw a regulation catch to Cammie who again put the ball down. Third ball of the innings saw another nick behind and another dropped chance by Buck. This was the most difficult chance of the 3 but it did make us wonder whether it was going to be our day! Our first breakthrough came from another DCC juggle but the ‘catch’ (between his legs in the end) was held by Stuart off the bowling off Cammie and we made a breakthrough. After a couple of tight overs Stirling started to panic, we took a couple of wickets from run outs followed by Stuart taking his second catch of the evening, this time behind the stumps from the bowling of Buck. It was starting to look like it could get close so I gambled on giving Fox his 2nd over in the 8th over rather than saving him for the last and on the 3rd ball of the over (after 2 dot balls) the last man holed out and Cammie took a fantastic catch off the side wall and Stirling were all out for 71 and DCC won by 38 runs.
There were many positives to take from the game on Sunday. Our batting was improved as even when there were a few non scoring balls, we didn’t panic to find the next run and paced the innings well, keeping ahead of the 9 per over run rate to achieve at least 1 bonus point for batting. Our fielding and bowling was also very good and had we taken our catches and run outs we could have had Stirling out for a lot less than they actually got!
After 2 games we’ve moved up to 2nd in the league table, 2 points behind Redding and West Quarter.
Next Sunday our opponents are Doune CC who beat Callander, bowling them out for 49 and knocking off their total in 4.3 overs on Sunday, but before then we have training at the Academy on Wednesday at 6:30pm.
Marcus
Week 2. Sunday 16th March 2014
4pm – 5pm
5pm – 6pm
6pm – 7pm
Doune C.C. V Callander C.C.
Stirling C.C.C. V Dollar C.C.
Clackmannan C.C.C. V Redding & West Quarter C.C.
C.C.C. 49 All Out – D.C.C. 50 for 0 (After 4.3 Overs)
D.C.C. 109 For 3 – S.C.C.C. 71 All Out
C.C.C.C. 78 For 4 – R&W.C.C. 79 For 1 (After 6.2 Overs)
Table after week 2
Bonus
Bonus
Club
Played
Won
Lost
Batting Points
Bowling Points
Total
Westquarter & Redding C.C
2
2
0
4
5
25
Dollar C.C
2
2
0
1
6
23
Doune C.C
2
1
1
3
5
16
Stirling C.C.C
2
1
1
3
4
15
Clackmannan C.C.C
2
0
2
0
3
3
Callander C. C
2
0
2
0
1
1
Week 3 Fixtures
Week 3. Sunday 23rd March 2014
4pm – 5pm
5pm – 6pm
6pm – 7pm
West Quarter & Redding C.C. V Callander C.C.
Stirling C.C.C. V Clackmannan C.C.C.
Dollar C.C. V Doune C.C.