4XI start the season with last ball thriller

The first match of the season - and for a new crop of Sunday cricketing enthusiasts - started cloudy and ended with clear and sunny skies. An omen, perhaps, of how the season will unfold for this dapper group.

Timperley won the toss and elected to field. The Bowdon batting order was hastily worked out, with a mix of the over 40s and under 15s presenting a range of abilities and flexibilities, meaning a runout dismissal was always on the cards (and, as it turned out, there were a few)!

Roni Raithatha (19) and Nanda Lukalapu (7) saw off the openers, before Mo Saeed (15) and Bertie Richards (28) built the innings nicely. But the star of the batting was Leo Beesley, who kept the scoreboard ticking over, even while losing partners at the other end. Leo batted brilliantly, to finish Not Out on 51 from 55 balls. With the other batters chipping in, we finished on a very credible 178/9 from the allotted 40 overs.

Timperley started slow, with the surgical accuracy of Mo Saeed and mesmerising swing of Mahesh Doddi keeping the Timperley openers in check. Wickets were hard to come by, but so were runs and the tension built as the bowlers rotated. In the end, with 5 wickets down (2 of them fantastic caught-behinds from wicket keeper Roni), Timperley needed 14 off the last 2 overs. Nanda bowled the final over - defending only 5 runs - and kept us in the hunt until the very final ball, when Timperley stole a single to reach the target of 179.

Mahesh was the pick of the bowlers, with 10-23-2, while Bertie, Leo and Nanda each took a wicket. Aarush and Chris both chipped in with valuable overs in the middle of the innings, and even more importantly, excellent fielding to restrict the flow of runs and keep us in the hunt.

The u15 heart of the 4th XI contributed hugely - especially when you consider they had played their own match in the morning, had a quick bit of lunch, and then turned out for a 40-over a side match in the afternoon!

While the entire team contributed to every aspect of a thrilling encounter, Player of the Match was undoubtedly Leo Beesley, with 51 runs batting and 4-14-1 bowling. Well done, Leo!

In the end, we lost on the final ball of a match that was evenly poised throughout. If every 4th XI game of the 2022 season is this exciting, we’re going to have a great time!