Catches lose matches

After a good session bowling, the 2nd XI appeared to have little to do to roll up visitors, Bromsgrove. In the end, within sight of a winning total, BG was bowled out. Perhaps caught out would be more appropriate: seven BG batsman gave up their wickets by playing reckless shots. Bromsgrove bowled well, but Bilton never had a difficult run rate to chase and have to learn the lesson from the fixture.

 Kaamil Walilay won the toss and put Bromsgrove in to bat in an innings shortened by Bromsgrove’s late arrival; they had been delayed after being held up on the A46 behind an accident. The visitors started well well, getting up to a healthy run-rate, and it was not until the introduction of Sebastian Jenks and Tom Winterton that BG began to pull things back. This bowling pair took seven wickets between them and got Bromsgrove’s run rate down to under 5 per over. In the end, it was a late flourish that took the away side to a total of 110 after 25 overs. Bilton had fielded well, holding most of their catches and looking lively.

 Bilton may have felt overconfident at this point but things were going well until the 15th over, when wickets began to tumble. After a good knock by opener Richard Brumpton (23) no-one else really looked like getting going. Few even got into double figures, and suddenly Bilton looked vulnerable. Even at the death, Bilton had an easy run-rate to win, but Bromsgrove took the final wicket withless than 20 runs to get. The 2nds should consider the fact that they gave Bromsgrove 7 wickets through catches when they never needed to play recklessly.

 With frequent fixtures in the early part of the season, the 2nd XI will have to learn quickly. They bowled and fielded positively, but need to bat maturely.

A special thanks to Oliver Vartan and George Upfield for all their help on the day.


Tags: Cricket, Prep, Sport