Nevil say never again

On the 6th of May, it was time for our first game of the season, so the 2nd XI set off Tunbridge Wells to get underway. We got to the Nevill Ground and conditions were overcast, however Stanley wanted to bat... but he lost his first toss and we was fielding first. There was a few moans and groans but we were focused in doing the job. We started really well and had T Wells 13-3 just after the first 10 overs, Jordan Parkinson with all 3 wickets who was accompanied by the skipper who also bowled really well and deserved a wicket. However, T Wells number 2 and 5 grinded out the rest of the opening overs of the game. Anish and Sam then came on to bowl who kept it tight through the middle overs and we were still on top. Soon after, the sun decided to make an appearance and the deck turned into a road... So despite our best efforts from Shaun, Jordan and death overs from Fraser and Stanley, Tunbridge Wells finished on 249-3 and so we was set 250 to win which we thought was under par considering the batting conditions being sunny. So after a fairly average tea, the run chase was on. Out to the middle strolled Jack(1) and Shaun(2) who were determined to get off to a solid start. Sadly we lost Jack in the early overs for 2, but in came Murtz and the rebuild was on with Shaun. Shaun saw his way to 50 before getting out shortly after on 55. Murtz was going very nicely until he was at the receiving end of a bad decision meaning he was stumped on 46. After these wickets we struggled to get going again with Aiden falling for 8 and Dan getting out for 6. But, Stanley strolled into the crease with Sam... could this be the partnership to see us home? At this stage of the game we were needing around 114 off of 14 overs. Once again, a good nut broke the little partnership which saw Stanley get 5 and then Sam followed a few overs later for 24 trying to press on to try and win the game. Fraser and Shansky came to the crease and hit some nice shots between them, until Fraser got out on 12. Jordan then came and went for a quick 4, leaving Anish and Alex out there. At this point we realised that the game had got away from us, so we set ourselves a target of achieving the 200 batting point which we reached and finished on 209-9 off 50 overs, Shanksy 16* and Anish 5*.

Sam Barton