Sunday May 21st vs Hyde Heath

Hyde Heath 152 all out (Hasan Arif 4-37, Raghu Kankate 3-32)    Great Missenden Pelicans 117 (Alex Livie 39, Hasan Arif 35, Extras 26)

LOST by 35 runs

As Nick Berry so perfectly put it: But suddenly we seemed to stop and lose our way, but did it really matter anyway, for that was yesterday, and we must live for now, Every loser wins…………

Having suffered torrential rain the day before the wicket looked in surprisingly good form as the two skippers went out for the toss, another victory for the Pelis on the tossing front meant bowling was the order of the day.

Josh and Toobes opened up, to save time please read earlier match reports, Josh 9 overs, accurate one wicket, Toobes 7 overs, not so accurate, no wickets.

Hasan and Rags took over and again I am tempted to refer you to earlier reports, such was the consistency. Hasan immediately taking a wicket followed by a further 3 eventually returning figures of 9 overs 4 for 37, Rags as before bowled with the usual accuracy and returned figures of 11 over 3 for 32.

The Hyde Heath opener after surviving a couple of scares batted well for his 60 as he slowly ran out of partners, The Pelis just keeping their noses in front and restricting the run rate rather nicely.

Special shout out this week goes to our catching and in particularly Gregaldinio.

I don’t think I am speaking out of turn but when the HH bat lofted a ball over to our Brazilian magician and by that I mean Greg and not some front lady garden topiary there was not a lot of confidence in the air, BUT such lack of confidence was shown to be ridiculously misplaced as those claw like hands pocketed said ball and the look of horror on Greg’s face changed to one of sublime happiness or relief, I couldn’t really tell.

If that wasn’t enough our minor counties Brazilian cricket god then took to show boating and did the same again but this time with a ball that for a short while disappeared into the clouds such was the height.

The innings was brought to a close with an excellent spell from Haimes whose 5 overs yielded one wicket with only 15 runs taken off him.

HH all out 152, tricky but surely within reach.

Tea was this week provided by our resident Aussie Van Dur Peanut, and what a superb effort it was. Never has there been a finer display of burgers, falafel, brioche, scones, ginger crunch and Anzac biscuits. A standard has been set.

Following this feast it was down to Kankate K and Bailey D to lead us home and commence the run in to victory, that was how I had pictured things, unfortunately Bailey D had a slightly different script in his head which included leaving a ball and watching it hit his wicket, an interesting approach to batting, or shall we call it standing and watching. Kankate K in his usual form decided that hanging around was for Jessies and decided to slash his way out of any possible trouble, unfortunately a low one had him done for LBW for 2.

The script needed rewriting, thankfully we had Gregaldinio in a good place following his fielding exploits, confidence sky high. His confidence was slightly lower back in the changing room after being run out for 2.

The wickets of Harris, after a mighty 6 and Kankate R soon followed and the Pelis were looking down the barrel of a very large supergun called defeat.

Cometh the hour cometh the men, Alex and Hasan who between them batted with authority and skill, guiding the Pelis ever onwards to what was increasingly looking like a victory. Unfortunately on 39 Alex holed out and then 3 LBW s in a row brought the Pelis day to a close on 117, with Hasan still there.

Defeated the Pelis did what the Pelis do best and took to the fines committee and Lord Chief Justice Van Dur Peanut.

Reports are intended to convey an entertaining picture of the day’s play. No disrespect is meant, but if on occasion we misjudge matters, please take it in the friendly and humorous spirit in which it is intended.