Do or die. Win this and we might be able to stay in grade 2. Lose and the dream was over. Would god be on our side?
No. We fielded first, on a slippery ground, with constant breaks for rain. One of the Comberton openers scored 92, and a huge score was on the cards . . . 'til Neal Baker took the ball and bagged 6/43 -- the best figures of the season for us, and enough to get us back into the game -- 202 was definitely chasable.
And chase we did -- we were well on the pace for most of the innings, but, unlike our opposition, never got any big partnerships going. It was always 30 runs between wickets rather than 80. The highest scorers were Andy Owen (33) and Phil Bradford (34), but a number of others chipped in. Nonetheless, it was only in the final five overs that things looked to be slipping away, and even with twenty needed off the last over there was still a chance. Daniel Mortlock (16) hit a two, then a four, and then a big straight drive for six . . . or at least it would have been, but it was caught about a foot inside the boundary.
Cue the sad music from Star Wars. Season over. All that we could salvage now was some pride.