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It all started so well; Hugh Stanton picked up a wicket from his first ball and another one three balls later. Hugh's bowling brought the Stoneygate total down by 3 runs! The rest of the team's bowling was predominantly straight and, given the very small boundaries, the run rate was contained well. Each of the eight players bowled one nine-ball over and Stoneygate amassed a modest 60 runs, taking their total to 260. It was a very promising scenario and one simple message was conveyed to the batsmen, "Don't give away your wicket". I'm not sure which bit of the instruction had proven too hard to comprehend but within the first over Hugh undid his excellent work with the ball and set in the rot that was to quickly consume the rest of the batting line up. By the time Arthur F-C and Bertie Duncan took to the crease as the last and, supposedly, strongest pairing, 36 runs were still required off 18 balls. Plausible for a few seconds until Arthur shouted "Yes!" to a run when the Stoneygate wicketkeeper was already holding the ball a mere 5 feet from the stumps. Further 'suicidal' batting ensued and our lauded duo barely managed a positive total from their whole time at bat. There is much promise in this team, but I feel that a few brain cells might not go amiss!
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