Unfortunately, for the second year in a row in 9ths on MP4, the Gladdies couldn’t get it done in the final game of the season.
We went with our tried and true strategy of sending the opposition in, and while things started tight enough with plenty of dot balls, every now and again they’d pull a pretty big hit out of nowhere, and the sixes started to add up. Soli and Terry got some early wickets, but the fielding was a bit sloppy in places, and it was difficult to sustain pressure. We were probably also short a bowler, meaning there was only one Gypsy that didn’t find the boundary. They already had 131 by drinks, with plenty of wickets in hand. Whilst we ended up getting them 8 down in the end, the damage was 259 by the end.
That was still very gettable with our batting lineup, but things didn’t quite go according to plan. The run rate was pretty good, but we lost Cramsie and Kunal early… Kunal in particular must have been pretty surprised to be bowled having watched no fewer than 16 wides go by earlier in that over. Dan put in yet another impressive batting performance, but just as the wind picked up to essentially cyclonic conditions, the Gladstones were becalmed, and the run rate dropped from over six to less than five in a nine over patch. When Dan fell for an agonising 39, we were really up against it, and the run rate required climbed steadily to over 12 with plenty of overs to go. Marty and Terry combined for a quickfire late innings partnership that almost gave us a sniff, but the Gypsies caught well, and in the end the innings petered out at 194. On reflection, not a bad score, but a lot less than what we needed.
So another season ends trophy-less, but not without plenty of highlights, and some great times had and cricket played.
