When: 26 May

Where: Stubberumyra

Nation - 247/7 off 40 ov.

Aliens - 126/10 off 25 ov.

Nation won by 119 runs.

Our 5th fixture of the season was up against Nation cricket club and was played at Oslo’s newest cricket ground, Stubberumyra. Having read the posts from the NCF on their facebook page, I was expecting something resembling the epic beauty of Newlands but instead we were met by a damp and patchy outfield and a new pitch containing a few, not so hidden, gremlins.

Captain Dave was back to his winning ways and elected to field. With our newly selected international, Damon, on holiday our new ball pair was Waqar (7 overs, 0 for 37) and Marcus (3 overs, 0 for 37). Waqar started well but the Nation openers seemed to have a target of 500 in mind and started going at the ball straight from the start. Marcus took the second over and was met by a torrent of slaps, smashes and thwacks and conceded 15 runs. Nation was off to a flyer and took advantage of some wayward bowling to race away to 60 odd runs off the first 7 overs. Dave brought in a couple of changes, with Pratheesh (8 overs, 0 for 47) and Barton (6 overs, 1 for 29) replacing the openers. Both got off to a good start, bowling a tighter line, but the Nation openers continued to throw caution to the wind and kept the runs flowing. With the 100 coming up in the 12th over, Aliens needed a wicket, which was duly provided by Barts knocking over middle stump. Nation’s number 3 seemed much more content with blocking and pushing for singles to get himself in so the run rate began to drop. At the drinks break, Nation were 127 for 1 and Aliens were fighting their way back nicely. Captain Dave (8 overs, 1 for 42) and Pratheesh continued after the drinks and kept a lid on things, with some good tight bowling. Pratheesh finished his 8 and was replaced by Mitch (8 overs, 2 for 52) who again bowled well and picked up an early wicket. At 30 overs, Nation were about 170 for 4. Unfortunately luck didn’t go our way, with a great many edges going past or over the keeper and several balls evading the fielders. In the end, Nation managed to hit their way to a strong 247 for 7, with 3 run outs coming in the last over.

The Aliens openers, Pratheesh (25 off 17 balls, 2x4, 2x6) and Barton (66 off 65 balls, 6x4), were back for this game and again got us off to a good start. Pratheesh was his usual lethal self, cutting and pulling with ferocity, including one almighty pull shot that cleared the square leg boundary by a good 30 meters. With Nation bringing on their spinner, Zeeshan, things changed immediately (5 for 21 off 7). Pratheesh went after his first ball, missed it and was bowled. Richard (Joe) was our number 3 and looked in decent touch before spooning a ball to mid on. Jamie came at number 4, filled with a huge desire to score big. Unfortunately, he missed his second ball and can now boast an average lower than his position in the batting order. Things didn’t improve for us this week with Waqar (4 off 9), Mitch (2 off 9), David (0 off 4), Marcus (6 off 17) and Drew (0 off 1) all falling in pretty quick succession. Our realistic chances of winning were taking a dive, but with Barton still there and looking good, we still had an outside shot. Malcolm and Barts resumed after the halfway point, but Barts fell to Zeeshan while trying to force the run rate. Sunil (0* off 2 balls), who fielded brilliantly earlier in the day, was our final batsman, joining Malcolm in the 23rd over. After a cracking shot for 4, Malcolm also fell and the Aliens were bowled out for 126 inside 25 overs.

In upcoming games, we need to find a way to contain teams to under 200. Even if we have conceded over 240 in 3 games so far, our bowling has been pretty good. Our fielding is improving, with much fewer dropped catches this week. Our batting though, is looking pretty dismal. Apart from our 3 superstars (Pratheesh, Barton and Damien), our top and middle order have looked pretty shaky. It’s still early in the season though! We have 13 more league games coming up so we’ve got plenty of time to turn things around. Lets put some good work in and get our middle order firing. We have all got the ability to do it, we just need to get a few runs under our belt and get ourselves started. I know we belong in this division, lets score some bloody runs and prove it, damnit!