The Mote 3rds Away to Milstead 1s

The day started very overcast as the 3rd XI made their way to the picturesque ground tucked away in the depths of Milstead. Regular skipper Lewis Bone was away on England International duties, so it was left to vice-captains Rob Adams and Martin Prudence to steer the ship. After tossing up between them to decide who did the real toss, Rob went out and called correctly and put Milstead in. This decision being a pretty obvious one, with 8 bowlers in the side against 2nd in the table, we were looking to get as many points as we could early on.
Jacob Taylor opened up from the top end and was causing some trouble for the openers. His pace and high arm troubling the uncomfortable looking batsman as it was coming out of the dark trees with a lack of sight screen. Despite a good opening over, his first over went for 12 runs. However, it was The Mote that were looking the more comfortable, as all 12 runs came off flailing edges and mistimed shots. Martin opened up the hill with his normal tight bowling, going for just one run. It wasn’t long until The Mote got what they deserved when Jacob bowled the opener out for 16. This started a steady flow of wickets for the away side. Martin Prudence didn’t want to be out of the game for too long, and following an out of sorts low full toss, he took a stunning caught and bowled one handed down to his left. This put The Mote firmly on top and this is how it stayed. Jacob took another wicket from his 7 overs, and Martin had another, caught at cover from the returning Fraser Inglis, to finish his 8 overs 2-21.
Nathan Pereira replaced Jacob and made an immediate impact, getting a wicket with his first over after the batsman looked to hit out, but instead mis-queued his shot and hit straight up, giving Rob plenty of time to steady himself before taking a good catch. Rob came on at the bottom end and bowled tightly, taking 1-7 off 4.2 overs before the rain interrupted. At this point, Milstead were 99-7 off 24.2 overs, looking in desperate trouble with The Mote well on top.
Alas, the heavens opened more as we took an early tea as an abandonment looked more and more inevitable. An hour after the teams left the field, both skippers shook hands and abandoned the game. For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, The Mote have been in a very commanding position when the elements interrupted, leaving us with just 10 points from those 2 games, whereas, in reality, we should have taken maximum points from both.
Plenty of positives to take from the 24 overs we played, tight bowling, plenty of chances being created, and holding onto our catches. We go again this weekend at home to Bobbing Court, where we will look to get a full game in for the first time in a month!