Cowley CC v Cheltenham Civil Service CC. Sunday 23rd August 2020

On a blustery, occasionally showery Sunday afternoon Cowley travel to the Cheltenham Civil Service ground for a 40 over encounter.
Cowley batted first and Phil and Aji were sent out to get us going. The dream start however eluded us this week. Aji fell in the 3rd over for a duck and Phil in the following over for 7. We looked to Ed and Jonny to steady the ship but Jonny missed a straight one after opening his account with a boundary. Dave Holt wasn't able to get going, falling for a duck in the 7th over and we found ourselves 17 for 4. Ed however was still there and put on 28 with Ajay (mostly in boundaries) before Ajay was bowled for 4. Will joined Ed and the two looked to push on and managed to add 27 for the 6th wicket (briefly interrupted by a rain break), the partnership being broken when Ed , bitterly disappointed with himself, chipped to mid off having made 40. Will was joined by skipper Keith and another handy partnership developed until Will's innings was cut short on 40 as an LBW shout was upheld. We found ourselves 7 down with 15 overs still to bat. Dave joined Keith and the pair put a high price on their wicket as they steadily kept the score ticking along. Our stout left handers were separated when Keith was bowled for 17 in the 34th over to bring Eric to the crease. Our hero from the last game was unable to get into his stride however as another LBW shout was upheld and he had to drag himself off for 4. Adrian joined Dave for the final 5 overs and managed to propel the score up to 177, Dave surviving a mis-stumping to finish on 23 not out and Adrian finishing on 19 not out (only the one reverse sweep this week).
Not the most challenging total from 40 overs, but from our poor start we were reasonably satisfied as we munched our sandwiches.

Aji and Will opened the bowling and Will drew first blood, trapping the no2 LBW for 7 in the 4th over. We had to wait awhile for our next breakthrough. Although Grace (substituting for Phil) bowled a testing spell it was Ed with his remodelled bowling who gave us some hope; first with another successful LBW shout and then bowling the next two batters in a spell of 6-1-23-3. Eric and Keith took up the mantle as the free-scoring no3 passed 50. We knew if we were to have any chance we had to remove him and Keith delivered in his second over thanks to the safe hands of Eric. We were in the game and Eric chipped in with a wicket thanks to a good catch from Ed. Keith added to his already impressive wicket tally for the season as Grace took a nice catch at short fine leg and CCS were 123 for 7 with 12 overs to go. Their captain came to the crease and with some powerful hitting took control of proceedings. Ed came back to complete his allocation of overs and then Aji and Grace were brought back in an attempt to find some magic. Grace bowled the no8 for 20 in the 37th over (a wicket maiden) but it was too late to alter the course of the match as our hosts crossed the line with 7 balls to spare, winning by 3 wickets.

An entertaining game, and in the end closer than it probably should have been, but normal service resumed as Cowley finish second again. Ed takes the lead at the top of our batting chart and Keith extends his grasp on the bowling - but there is still time for challengers to raise their game and put them under pressure as we head into September and our final 3 games of a truncated 2020 season.