Another chaotic trip to Coleshill felt almost inevitable. After the mankad episode of 2024 it seemed like there might be an axe to grind for both teams but no-one could have predicted the events of the day.

As we were preparing for the game we were told that the opposition had no match balls so a delayed start contributed to a little frustration as we awaited match balls to be uber'd from Sutton Coldfield. Thanks to Nick Baker for his help as he limbered up for his own game at Rectory Park.

We got going just before 1 and were on the way back to Rectory Park at 5.45. In one way another short day in the office after our exploits against Thimblemill last week, but this was a different story, in a lot of ways.

We won the toss and elected to bat. I am still unsure as to whether this affected the outcome of the game but in all honesty I was just happy to win a toss for a change. It wasn't long before the chaos started to unfold....

The batting figures told a story - 2 double digit scores...5 ducks, 3 of them first ballers. 28 overs later we were back in the changing rooms wondering whether an ice cream would help us to recover.

When looking at our lineup, our bowling quality was unquestionable. Could we do it?

And so it began....
We decided to start with pace and spin. Step up Ben Dawson and Arjuna Rao - 3 wickets in 9 overs.
Then Ksitijj Reddy working his magic - 4 wickets and should have a had a hat trick, all in 5 overs.
Ollie Wright then kept up the momentum and then Jim [Sam] Little stepped up to knock the last couple over in a pressure situation when they only required single figures for victory. Well done Sam!! Well done to all the bowlers.

A great bowling performance for sure and whilst I always believed we could do it, I am continually amazed by our ability to dig in and engineer victory. One thing we need to do going forward is just make life a little easier for ourselves.

Onwards and upwards for the mighty 3's!