A familiar tale of good Pelicans cricket this week with a few tweaks to the fine details.

Toss won, bowling first, 4 known bowlers with the Skipper searching for a 5th. It was down to Hasan and, for the first time in a Pelicans shirt, Alex to set us off on our challenge to keep Chesham Bios down to a reasonable total with just a few who can turn their arm over… Or so we thought.

Hasan from the pavilion end started well and kept a lid on the scoring, Alex from the other mixed good balls with some slightly short and was punished at the end of the first over. Once both openers had settled in, a classic Pelicans scene unfolded. Having been hit for a large 6 Alex responded well creating two chances in two balls, the second of which was notable due how daintily it floated to Adam at mid-wicket, he couldn’t drop a catch so simple, could he? Well. As it turns out, he could. 2 drops in 2 balls and that turned the birthday boy’s mood a little sour.

Has and Alex plugged away, bowling one opener in the process, until a 3rd chance was created, this time the other opener smashed one at James at mid off, everyone watched the ball fly like an Exocet missile, then BAM! James sticks his left arm up and it sticks, a spectacular catch taken, third time lucky. We were hitting all the Peli’s fielding stereotypes, moments of magic sprinkled with moments of, erm, well, let’s just say not so magic. We must have dropped 3 or 4… maybe more…

At this point Adam rung the changes, Skip (0-25) replacing Hasan (1-45) after 5 overs and James on for Alex (2-35). Now James is not a regular bowler for us, and was reluctant to say the least, but he did pick up our 3rd wicket in his second over and just before drinks. Post drinks brought a mixture of boundaries and wickets, we plugged away through the bowling of Niron (2-42) and surprise package of Ali (3-36). Only Adam seemed to be aware that Ali could bowl and his leg spin, but this was a revelation to the rest of, especially when he lined up the hat trick ball. The scoring slowed and wickets steadily fell. Chesham Bois ending on 212-9.

After tea our openers strolled out to bat with the remaining batting order confident of having plenty of time to wait before they entered the fray. Yusuf and Asad did what Yusuf and Asad do and got us off to a flyer, 62-0 off 9 then 87-0 off 12. They used the lightning fast outfield and somewhat wayward bowling to their advantage, cleanly hitting everything in sight. There is not much to say that hasn’t been already said about this pair. Strong down the ground, brutal to anything short and clinical when set, it was a joy to watch, if not bordering on cliché. We were wondering if there would be a 10-wicket win but unfortunately not, Asad eventually holing out to the man on the boundary at cow corner. Next to the crease was another hard-hitting batsman, Ajmal, who carried on as we had started, and he and Yusuf saw us home. Yusuf hitting his second 100 of the season in the process.

A thoroughly enjoyable Sunday afternoon before the Euros final that evening.

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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.