Solid start for Niffy 2’s in big Winning Draw at Dunton

The 2017 season finally got underway on what was an unusual sunny afternoon for the 1st game of the season. The skip had prepared a rousing 1st game speech to fire the lads up for the season ahead, however when it was pointed out to him at 12:30pm that had left the scorebook at home he had no choice other than to produce his finest Lewis Hamilton impression and attempt to race to Narborough and back before the 1pm start. So the team went ahead in their pre-match preparation without the skips inspiring words and he left the VC to toss up with strict instructions to bowl first. Whilst racing back to Dunton he discovered Mr Gardner had called wrong and we were asked to bat first on what looked to be a decent 1st game pitch.

The batting order was relayed to Karlos via the Skips hands free kit and the game got under way with Gardner and Badger opening up the batting. A solid start by both saw niffy reach 18 for no loss after 8 overs when Gardner decided to prove that some things never change and he popped a catch up into the covers. Smig joined Badger and the scoring rate picked up as both looked in decent nick for the 1st hit of the season and they put on 59 in 11 overs before Smig lent back on one and like Mr Gardner popped up a simple catch into the covers. However this proved to be a masterstroke as this brought 2nd XI debutant Kumara Kesena into bat who combining well with badger upped the rate even more, with Kumara in particular putting away anything remotely loose onto the Lutterworth Road. Badger was also playing nicely and was unfortunate to top edge a short ball as he fell for a fine 43 with the score now having moved on to 104-3 after 25 overs. Matt McDonald was in at 5 and played himself in nicely and punished anything loose as he and Kumara put on the highest partnership of the innings with 81 runs coming off the next 10 overs as the niffy moved onto 185 after 35 overs. Kumara was the next man to go for a superb 60, which included 3 fours and 4 sixes as well as a delightful Joe Thorpe-esque Dill Scoop, much to the lads amusement. Jacko was next man in as niffy reached the final 10 overs and the instructions were now to play some proper cricket and smash it to all parts. Macca brought up the 200 in the 39th over but was then unfortunate to fall for 30 to a great catch on the long off boundary. Dykey quickly came and went looking for quick runs and Waggon then joined Jacko and his new piece of Willow proceeded to despatch the ball to the boundary and surrounding fields on regular occasions. Jacko played a sensible cameo in running it around for the 1’s to give Waggy the strike as Niffy finished on 256-6 off their 45 overs with Jacko 17 not out and Waggy 37 not out. A fine effort for the 1st game as everyone contributed and chipped in which should hopefully be a valuable lesson for the season ahead.

Dykey and Ash Willan opened up the bowling and both got into the groove right away and runs were hard to come by for Dunton’s opening pair. The 1st wicket fell to Dykey in the 7th over as Finn was bowled with the score on 9. Dax Miller came in to bat at number 3 and runs were still hard to come by, Ash was next man to get in on the act as he had Pickering caught behind with the score on 17. Waggy came on to replace Dykey and quickly had Miller LBW in the 15th over to one that possibly pitched outside leg, which left Dunton on 18-3. However this then brought Winder and Morris together for Dunton who frustrated the Niffy for the next 20 overs as they struggled to find the breakthrough, albeit helped by the skip dropping 2 catches. The score reached 89-3 off 35 overs as Dykey came back on to try and force a wicket and he had Morris bowled for 24. Macca was bowling well at the other end and had Winder caught behind for a well played 43 and it was now game on at 91-5 with 9 overs left. Dykey continued to put in a great effort pushing to get us the wickets that would bring us the win but it wasn’t to be as Dunton finished on 134-6 off their 45 overs, Luke finishing with figures of 3-17 from his 12 overs. A good solid start for the 2’s with 20 points in the bag and some promising signs for the season ahead.