A tremendous team performance with both bat and ball.

The game finally started at 3.15 and was restricted to 35 overs a side.  Asked to bat first the early overs were tight, and it was not until Steve Allcoat and Ben Shaw came together with the score on 78 for 4 after 25 overs that the the game was transformed.  Steve hit an unbeaten 59 from 46 balls with 2 4s and 4 6s while Ben hit a run a ball 26 and injected some urgency into the innings which closed at 168 for 5.

Hucknall’s reply would be restricted to 30 minutes plus a minimum of 16 overs in the last hour – 25 overs as it turned out. Very difficult you would have thought for the Squirrels to have forced a victory. The fact that they came within 1 wicket, having Hucknall 9 wickets down was quite remarkable.

Hucknall reached 17 without loss before 9 wickets fell for just 19 runs with an inspired spell from Dom Harvey taking 5 for 14 and including a non-striker run out after Ian Stone deflected a drive off his own bowling. One wicket to take in the remaining overs – last pair ‘blocked’ out and the innings closed at 41 for 9.

So, Attenborough gained 14 points in one of the best games of the season.

The Squirrels move above Farnsfield into 9th place in the table. Next week we are at Radcliffe on Trent.  It’s all still very tight in the league with 5 teams in a ‘bunch’ on similar number of points. With the last 2 weeks results we have shown true Attenborough fight and determination coupled with much skill which the 1st team squad can take into the remaining matches.

Footnote:

Special thanks to all those who helped in making sure the game took place, after another wet few days prior to match day.

A further footnote:

This is not Graham Shaw’s match report – although much of it has been copied from the original.