When: 10th July 2022

Where: Ekeberg 1

Aliens Ck 183/10 (39.3)

Falken A Ck 185/8 (37.4)

Falken A Ck won by 2 Wkt(s)

See the scorecard at CricClubs

Having won the toss and electing to bat, despite starts from Marcus and Damon, due to some questionable LBW decisions, poor shot selection and incredible catching from Falken, Aliens collapsed from 42 – 3 to 43 – 7, with five of the top seven batsmen contributing just six runs between them.

Benan joined Sudesh and the pair put on a stoic partnership of 90 in 17 overs before Benan was caught for 32 and Sudesh dismissed in the same manner for 41.

Nine overs remained for 10 and 11 Christopher and James, who took advantage of some tired fielders and woeful bowling (a wopping 33 wides from Falken in total) with aggressive running between the wickets, adding 40 for the tenth wicket before Christopher was bowled in the last over.

Having set a respectable total of 183 to defend, especially having started so poorly, Aliens would have to deliver a strong performance in the field to claim victory.

With some dubious decisions going their way (hey, the umpires were consistent) along with superb line and length bowling from Marcus who claimed three wickets, and a couple of early dismissals for Dennis, Aliens found themselves on the front foot with Falken 68 – 6 in the seventeenth over.

Unfortunately, a number of spilled catches, along with some bad luck, including a bizarre 5 run penalty for saliva being rubbed on the white ball, and the ball dribbling into a helmet left on the field, saw Falken recover and reach their target of 184 with 14 balls and 2 wickets to spare.

Damon finished with the impressive figures 7.4 – 2 – 14 – 2 and with a couple of bowlers injured, the six players who delivered the 37.4 overs tried hard with a valiant workload, but it wasn’t enough and Aliens lost a game they should have won.

As they say, catches win matches.