Sunday XI vs Cobham

A third win out of three tosses this season prompted The Mote to put Cobham in to bat, with The Mote fielding a very bowler heavy side and with only 10 men. All 10 players could be classed as bowlers, highlighting the bowler bias in the side. A drizzly and overcast afternoon set the tone for the rest of the day. An early breakthrough saw Nathan Periera have Mote old boy Ben Bowles caught at mid off, however The Mote never really took wickets at regular intervals, making it a very frustrating day in the field as Cobham accelerated throughout the innings. Slippery surfaces and dodgy bounces made fielding a little tricky, however more should be expected from a Mote side, including a couple of dropped chances. Nathan Periera, Mo Tahir, Sam Reed and Lewis Bone all took a wicket apiece, with Chris Feltham claiming two victims. A difficult day in the field for The Mote, one that should be forgotten quickly, prompting the most positive words from the captain in the changing room at the end of the innings being "it wasn't terrible". Cobham got to 222-6 off their 40, a target that looked realistically about 100 runs out of reach for such a young and bowler heavy side.

Nonetheless, Louis Cameron and Alex Bone went out to open the batting on a very unpredictable deck. Two chances from the first 3 overs made a difficult task appear even more out of reach, however both openers remained. Alex became the first victim of the day, being cleaned up for 9 runs, quickly followed by Rhys Williams and Lewis Bone, making 1 run each. Louis then followed, out for 13, leaving The Mote 30-4. A decent middle order gave The Mote some hope of reaching 100, with 16 from Sam Reed and 15 runs for both Rob Adams and Nathan Periera, but we fell 17 runs short, being all out for a dismal 83 off just over 31 overs.

A day I'm sure all involved would rather forget, with plenty to work on for the coming weekend of fixtures. In reality it was a fixture that, given previous encounters with Cobham, we knew would be a tough game, but one that should not have resulted in a 139 run loss.