BACKReport by Anon
This was the semi final of the Evening Post Knock-out Cup and we came up against a Thames Valley league side whose 1sts had won all five games they had played this season. It was clear we were stepping up a level from our previous opponents.
North Maidenhead won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat (does anyone choose to bowl first in these games?). They set a quick early pace that was maintained right through the innings. The two most impressive features of the North Maidenhead batting were the driving of the two openers, particularly Shaw, and the running between the wickets with the batsmen capable of working the ball in to gaps for two to exploit the large outfield.
If we were going to successfully chase 161 we needed the top order to fire as we were without the depth of batting we had in our other midweek games this season. Against tight opening bowling we were never up with the rate and as the run rate increased so the wickets started to fall. To make matters worse Edward Choules was struck on the finger by a ball that spat from a length and whilst he was able to bat on will now miss the next two weeks.