It was alright, for a while. We could smile for a while. But when we went home that night, after losing the fight and we stopped to think it through, any one could tell we'd been crying.

Roy Orbison had it right. it was a sad loss in a game we were in control of for long periods.
Having won the toss and choosing to field, the skipper was confident that the cloud cover and the strength of our attack would ensure we had a very reachable target for our strong looking batting order. Indeed, despite an opening stand of 56, Bromyard then lost steady wickets to Big Ben(net) (2-43), Dr Jay (1-25), Ethan (1-31) and Miles (1-32) and found themselves 114-5 after 25. They were helped by smart catching from Skip, Ian Lunt, Mark Eckley and even Chappo behind the stumps. 6 and 7 in, the tail beckoning, Skip was confident of maximum target of 175... and of lengthening our lead at the top of the league. He was proud of his team... but we all know what pride comes before. In the face of confident batting and smart running, the team wilted in the heat faster than a bag of Morrison's best spinach. 6s flew everywhere, catches were dropped and the run rate shot up. 70+ were scored off the last 5 overs and Steve Brotherwood, their number 6, ended up caught off the last ball of the innings by Big Ben off Holly (2-37) for 98 off 44 balls. Brutal but deserved. Congratulations though to Holly for her brave death bowling that did contains things somewhat.

So the turnaround. We had done this before. We had batters on form and the outfield was like glass. Skip got off to a blistering start with 12 off the first over with only one dodgy shot from 3. He powered his way to 28 from 22 and the score was 41 at the end of the 6th over. We were ahead of the rate. Alas Skip suddenly felt quite unwell (he claims) and had to leave the field, to the immediate concern of his team mates. Chappy joined Eckers and helped take the score to 56 before he and Ethan fell in quick succession; Ethan to the first of Bromyard's spinners who were eventually to win the match for them. Mr Ed and Eckers then put on 52 for 3rd wicket, with a plethora of very dodgy sweeps and scoops which were nowhere near the quality of Joe Root's. Eckers reached his first 50 of the season, falling almost immediately afterwards, and Ed after after blasting 2 massive 6s (one of which narrowly missed Skip’s car which would really have made his day) fell soon after for 33.

We were still in it at 128 for 4 and well up the the rate, but disappointingly wickets fell regularly around Dr Jay who was trying valiantly to breathe some life into the innings. First Miles, then Skip who returned to the crease (when he perhaps shouldn't have) but was unable to add to his score. Tim Bennett, Dom and Holly were also unable to provide the support in the face of some great spin bowling and the innings subsides; all out 191.

The good news is that Skip is much better now and that we are still top.