Labour in Vain v Sentido Funf.
After coming off a big win in the rematch with “The Curtin”, a game where Rev won his hat back. (And hit that MAGNIFICENT cover drive.) Did you guys see that cover drive? CLASSIC!
We won the toss & sent Sentido in to bat. After the Xmas break it seemed the Quokkas were a little rusty with the ball.
After a few tight overs from our opening bowlers Dutchy & Emu, the runs started to flow for Sentido. Even with a great effort from Big Dog who stopped a certain boundary with his face, the runs kept coming. Once Big Dog had got back to his feet & we saw how much blood was coming out of his nose, the reaction was like he had leprosy, no one wanted to touch him. With Curto’s ‘wife to be’ being a doctor who was sitting on the hill, and because there was too much blood & not enough sympathy on the field. Ed’s advice was to get him off quick.
With Big Dog off injured we had a great sub fielder in young Sammy Curtain who saved a number of boundaries for us. And showed us he has a great arm too. With that sort of talent he won’t be a Quokka for long.
We bowled without luck (Or was it skill?) and had a few dropped chances in the field, before Pup broke through with our first & second wickets in the 15th over. Even with the breakthrough we couldn’t stop the momentum of the big hitting Sentido batsmen who hit 10 sixes & 17 fours by the end of their innings.
With Pup’s 3rd wicket (5 including free hit wickets) & some late wickets from Ed & Robbo, we went to the long break with a target of 221 to win.
After the BBQ & some debate over the batting line up, I sent Dutchy & Robbo out to open with the bat. This being the second game where Dutchy opened with both bat & ball, it seemed his confidence was high. With a run rate of almost nine an over to win we needed a good start.
With Robbo facing & getting a second ball duck, we weren’t off to the best start. Gladys was still padding up while Robbo was walking off so he didn’t get much of a break. But he still managed to smash 11 off the first over. By the end of the 3rd over he was on 27 and Dutchy had only faced 1 ball.
With a bit of strike, Dutchy raced to 18 from only 10 balls & was looking in fine form. Was this going to be another Dutchy 18? With the end of the over & Gladys back on strike, we would all have to wait & see. Gladys now on 29 & hitting 8 off the over, he retired on 37 for a well deserved break.
With his retirement, out came Emu who skyed his first ball & was caught at mid wicket. With me being padded up & my attention to detail not the best, I thought it was Dutchy out for another 18. I had already picked my gloves up & was about to walk out before Rowdy informed me it was Emu’s free hit. After a few balls to get himself set, Emu teed off. Even throwing in a couple of proper crickets shots for good measure.
With another boundary from Dutchy & a couple of 2’s, he was now on 27. He then worked his way to his first 30 with 3 singles. Congrats Dutchy on a great effort!
That had this weeks captain walking out with 1 over left before the drinks break. With Emu on strike & on 13. We ran a hard 2 off the first ball of the over & Emu hit a 4 off the second. With a single from the 3rd ball, that put me on strike & Emu at the non strikers end on 20. With all the skill I could muster, I somehow put bat to ball & we ran a strategic single to put the big man back on strike with 2 balls remaining. With a Six & a Four off the last 2 balls he had his 30.
After Emu & I put on a nice little partnership of 18 from the over, we went to the break in a good position at 1-108 & 3 retirees. At this stage things were looking promising.
After the break, Pup & I walked out to continue with our run chase. With my earlier form in the nets I had big ambitions of making a quick fire 30. With the bowler coming off 3 steps I could picture the ball flying over the fence for my second six of the season. I had my fist pump ready to go! Then to my shock, a Wasim Akram-esk yorker came flying down the pitch & I only just managed to dig it out. It was at this point when I realised that my ambitions & capabilities were worlds apart. With the second ball of the over being a repeat of the first, my stumps exploded. After the effort of walking out to bat twice, I was back on the hill for 1.
That put Mo in to bat. With my trusty Kookaburra having nothing else to do I gave it to Mo to see if he could get any more runs out of it. He got 10 runs from 8 balls before he was also bowled by Wasim. With Mo’s dismissal out came English Rob.
Pup was still at the crease and starting to find some form with the bat following his great form with the ball. He hit a terrific pull shot that looked like a boundary for all money until he was somehow caught by Sentido’s shirtless captain.
With Rob not wanting to open because of his slow run rate last time he opened against Sentido, he came in at number 8. With a huge swing & miss with his first ball I thought he had made a wise choice. Then with 3 boundaries from the next 3 balls & 5 in his knock of 27 at an impressive strike rate of almost 200. I was wondering what he was concerned about. (And happy birthday for Saturday too Rob.)
With a run a ball 4 from Ed, Curto slipping & stumping himself while sweeping down to fine leg for what would have been a boundary, that had the injured Big Dog at the crease.
As the Quokkas leading run scorer earlier this year before Rowdy’s record breaking 87, we had big expectations of the Dog! But he was soon stumped on 1.
With Big Dog back in the sheds, we had our first 2 retirees of Gladys & Dutchy back in. Dutchy hit another boundary before being caught on 34.
That left Gladys & Emu at the crease needing 27 runs from 12 balls for a victory. So we still had a chance of getting the win. With only a single from Emu before Gladys was caught out on a well made 52. We finished with Emu 44 not out & The Quokkas 26 runs short on 195.
Match Facts.
Sentido Funf 5/220. Pup 3-23 Robbo 1-20 Ed 1-23.
LiV Quokkas 10/195. Gladys 52, Emu 44* Not out, Dutchy 34, English Rob 27.
After the match the Sentido boys put on a few free beers which was good of them. And we were happy to drink them to show we are gracious in defeat.
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