Fourths do a "Star Trek"

Yes dear friends it was an interstellar, well at least interclub match, as the Thirds and Fourths did battle on the back at Upton. Captain Brucie won the toss and promptly inserted the Thirds on a drying track. Zee soon struck removing openers Alex J and Graeme quickly and Scraggy joined in snaring Lucca. Alex W provided some hard hitting but when he went to a corker of a catch from the Good Doctor for 28 and when Dan succumbed to Zee it was 53 for 5 and a David versus Goliath story was brewing. However Ian and Joe soon put an end to that romance as they steadied the ship with some excellent batting as the score went over 100. Joe was finally out for a very good 29 to a smart catch by Nathan off Mo. PDA then came in and with Ian took the total to nearly 180. Nathan got the final wicket of the innings having PDA caught on the boundary for 29 by the Good Doctor after which Ian (66 no) swiftly made the 180 mark before declaring after 42.3 overs leaving Callum slightly bemused. Some good bowling from Zee and Mo especially

So 47 overs to get the required runs but alas tragedy struck at the start of the Fourths innings as both the Good Doctor and I were both out without bothering the scorers caught by Graeme off Vijay and Alex W of PDA respectively. Poorly Arron was then run out and we were staring down the barrel at 8 for 3. Fortunately the barrel, aka Big Nige, then settled down with Mo as the pair batted sensibly and took the score to 48 before Mo (20) perished to a smart catch by Alex off the bowling of Zac. PDA then produced a classical piece of juggling as he held on, just about, to a return catch from Big Nige (38) and we were now in big trouble at 61 for 6. Sean then perished, caught by Dan and Nathan and Brucie were snaffled by Graeme off Jo and at 72 for 8 with 12 overs remaining things were getting tense. Young Sol however was having fun at the crease and put on an entertaining partnership with Zee but he was caught by Alex J in the 44th over for 13. So, just as last week, enter the professional no 11, Scraggy. He and Zee then played out the remaining overs without any problems, as he reminded us batsmen later, batting out for a draw. So honours even but the points with the Thirds. Next week the Fourths are home to Oxton 3 and no doubt Zee and Scraggy will be "coaching" us batsmen on how to bat properly. Oh joy...................