When: 23 MAY

Where: Drammen

Drammen Cricket Klubb 189/6 (33.0 ov)

Aliens Cricket Club 188/8 (35.0 ov)

Drammen Cricket Klubb - Won by 4 wickets

See the scorecard at CricHQ

The Aliens squad set their alarm clocks to 'hideously early' and made the trip to Drammen for their third game of the season and hopefully their first win.. Having arrived late and missed most of the warm up, captain Crawford then also lost the toss, allowing the hosts to invite ACC to have first use of the facilities.

Things started badly for the Aliens with de Beurs leaving one that seemed kept a touch low and nip back, to cannon into his off stump. From this inauspicious beginning Kuhlwilm(35) and Sahota set about repairing the damage and building the foundations for a defendable score. The accumulated their way to a solid 59 in 13 overs before Ahmad rocked back to the leg spinner Rana only to see the ball skid through, leaving him helpless to defend his stumps, and disappointed to have been outfoxed by a member of his own trade.

Skipper Damon Crawford strode out at number 4, making his return to the Aliens blue after representing Norway in European Division one. He quickly set about dampening the bowlers excitement at being given the chance to bowl to an international cricketer as the pair two carried the score to 89 with some sensible batting and hard running, before David mishit a long hop from Mukhtar which was well caught by a back peddling midwicket.

At number 5 for the day was Dennis Peter and he and Damon put together a partnership very much in line with their standing as two of the club's fastest scoring batters, pulling, cutting and driving their way to a partnership of near 60 in just 10 overs, including a monster straight 6 by Dennis, before he became Muhktars second victim of the day for a brisk 33 to leave ACC 146-4 with 7 overs left in the bank in which left to set a good target. Next to make his way to the crease was Drew, who wass making his first competitive appearance of the season however, his joy was short lived as he also fell victim to Muhktars long hop, standing on his stumps in the process of pulling the ball.

The next man in was playing only his second ever game for the club and Simon Gazdowicz(13) was looking good until he broke one of the club bats and had to ask for a replacement. Waqar generously offered his to loan his new bat and as often happens a change of bat meant a change in fortune and simon got the thinnest of nicks through to the keeper very next ball. Waqars bats day then went from bad to worse as he was run out first ball, left well short of his ground after a slight hesitation.

There was just time left for Damon (47) to get himself bowled in an excellent piece of jug avoidance, before Steve and Benan saw the innings to completion at 188, a solid score but by no means a match winning one, with the boundaries at Drammen having been brought in a long way compared to previous seasons.

Drammens reply got off to a solid start with the batsman, and Sajid in particular) treating both Steve (60-19-0) and Waqar (5-1-22-0) with respect. The introduction of Sunil(3-0-28-0) and Ahmad to the attack saw them cut free from the shackle, as Rasool in particular struck low lust blows.

It took all the way until the 15th over before the Aliens found the first breakthrough with captain Crawford (6-0-21-2) trapping Sajid Mukhtar LWB for 15. A secondly followed shortly afterwards as Ahmad(7-0-42-1) lured the number 3 into an ill-judged advance and he was left a spectator as Simon whipped the bails off in a flash to leave the home side on 84-2 at drinks. After the restart Crawford struck for the second time having the dangerous Rasool caught behind for a well compiled 65.

With the required rate beginning to creep upwards towards 6 RPO, Drammen begun to take the game to the bowlers with a succession of batsmen taking advantage of the short boundaries to launch a succession of sixes off the bowling of Kuhlwilm(2-019-0) and Peter (4-0-32-3). Their increased aggression however, meant that wickets continued to fall (and catches to be dropped), as they closed in on the target. It was the local side who held their nerve best though at Rashad Mukhtar and Wazir Anwar saw them home with 2 overs to spare, leaving the Aliens players once again rueing each little decisive moment of the game as they lost their second tight finish in the space of a week.