1st XI Abberley 120 all out, Bilton Grange 123 for 7 - Losy by 3 wkts

Another nearly day for the 1st XI as they slipped to their fourth defeat of the season on Saturday at home to Bilton. Put into bat on a slow track, we slipped to 14-3, victim in part to good bowling but largely due to an unwillingness to play straight. Max and Tom rescued things with a steady partnership before both fell just before tea to leave us on 91-5. Max made his fourth 50 of what is turning into a productive season. There were still potentially 13 overs to be used after tea due to the late arrival of Bilton and a slow over rate but Abberley succumbed in a mere 6 overs with some pretty thoughtless cricket. I had asked for 140 at tea or to use the overs available and we had managed neither.

It was to prove costly as despite a good run out early on from Alex, this merely brought Bilton's star batsman to the crease. He was a class act , the leading run scorer at the recent Malvern tournament and he made an effortless 63, punishing the all too frequent loose delivery. It looked like Bilton would coast to victory as they neared 100 with only one wicket lost but the partnership was broken by Nick and the opening bowlers returned with purpose. Jack in particular roared in and a flurry of wickets fell as the runs dried up. An improbable victory was becoming a possibility but Bilton managed to limp over the line with 7 wickets lost. The 140 requested at tea would in hindsight have won the game.