Resilience is key

It seemed from the weather conditions that Storm Hannah was still lingering, with a threat to call off our long awaited first fixture. Fortunately, the ground was dry and the very light occasional drops of rain did not affect to our match.

We carried out the toss with Savant and Dodds down the middle. Dodds wins the toss for WSP and chooses to bat first.

The bowling attack was opened by our wonder boy Jaidipe, his first match for Amey and he bowled well. WSP had a slow start getting runs on the board. They creeped up to 143/3 in 20 overs. All players got a chance to contribute to the bowling attack. Wickets taken by Stoppolo and Usman. The fielding was brilliant by Amey with a really composed catch taken by Jaidipe and a one-handed diving catch taken by the super star Usman. Megan made some excellent stops behind the stumps with great backing up by Warren. Savant was faced with two opportunities to make some diving catches off two of the experienced batsmen, but unfortunately slipped on the surface and spilt both of those. A big score to chase but not an impossible one.

The Amey batting was opened by Jaidipe and Theo who started well getting some quick singles. Unfortunately, Theo was bowled making no runs. The batting line up collapsed with another four batsmen being bowled making no runs. However, Jaidipe managed to hold on giving us hope and built a partnership with Bhav to try and get some runs on the board. At one point the score was 20/5, but with plenty overs remaining, there was a chance to still turn it around. Jaidipe managed to hit 14 runs until he was bowled by Stevens. Bhav was soon joined by Stroppolo who also got bowled making no runs. It was looking very unlikely that we were going to hit over 50 runs before all getting bowled out. Bhav was joined by our star man Usman who came in and hit his first shot out the park for a 6 (started dancing at the crease with some bhangra moves). The partnership built up and the pair rescued the score line taking us to over 100 runs with 6 overs remaining. Usman had to retire from the batting which brought Savant in. WSP bring on Andrews who is their most experienced bowler, great line and length. Shook up Savant on the first 2 balls. However, Savant hit back by running down the wicket and hitting a big 6 which went well out of the park. Some good running between the stumps by Bhav and Savant, which soon ended when Savant was faced with a shorter ball that he skied and was caught by the bowler. Usman came out of retirement as the last man taking the score to needing 10 runs off 12 balls. The pair started to play a little defensive to protect the wickets. Needing only 6 runs off the last 8 balls, by which Bhav was caught off the top edge. A very intense match with lots of drama.

Man of the match: Usman Hussain hitting 47 not out, taking 1 wicket and a diving catch on the boundary.

Highly commended: Jaidipe Chauhan for his brilliant catch and good opening batting. Mention: Bhav kept the hope alive with his resilience. The team were all excellent in the field.

A great night with a great team, the contribution from all on and off the field was brilliant. The belief we have in our team is amazing and it was this belief that took us within touching distance of a great win.

We will bounce back at the next one.