This weekend saw us away to Bodicote which is the ground with a great big tree at “wide long on” and the scene of the infamous Peterson/Evo lovers tiff.
The skipper finally wins a toss and elects to have a bowl, which was just as well considering his opening Bat (Bionic Ben – who by the way was 40 years and a day old during this game) was 10 minutes late, as he was waiting on Tiger who was doing a photo shoot? (is he the new face of Jackamo?).
Josh and Evo start us off and it’s tight bowling from the start and Bodicote are in no rush. Josh is first to break thru the defences in the 7th, when the Bat clips one for a catch behind. Evo joins him in the 12th, having bowled blokey and he and Josh capture 1 more each within their spells which see’s Josh finish on 2 wickets for 27 runs off 12 overs (with an impressive 4 maidens) and Evo, also getting 2 wickets for 34 off 11. However it was the older brother Day who snagged majority of wickets with an impressive 6’fer for 55 off 12 and supported by a cameo from Pinny, who backed him from the other end. With Bodicote all out for 140 and GP needing just 3.5 runs an over, the chase was on.
An early wobble in the first saw Ben get dislodged on 2, after the last ball of the over stayed low and crept under his defence. Pinny joined Lee for the start of the 2nd and all was looking good until the 6th when Pinny was bowled for 9. Evo then stepped in and “stepped up” and he and Lee put on a great display and partnership and reached the midway point unscathed for 50. For the first time in many weeks, GP finally had some building blocks and needing just 4.5 an over and with plenty of wickets in hand the home team were beginning to get concerned.
Evo and Lee managed to put another 11 runs on the board, before Lee found himself getting bowled for 19 and Evo wasn’t too far behind getting dislodged on 38 (2nd highest score of the day). From here on, it goes downhill with the usual GP collapse and everyone coming and going for the odd run here and there. The only score worth noting was a very impressive cameo from Ricky, who managed a very quick 17 n/o (well done young man). GP finished on 100, a massive 40 short of the target which at one point seemed well within reach.