Blackburn Cricket Club

We won the toss and  elected to bat, hoping Heata and Eddie would get away to a strong 
start, which they did. They smashed the attack to all parts and put on 
(68) in (8) overs before Eddie ran out of puff and was out for (34). 
Heata continued on his merry way and was well on his way to BOG when 
dismissed for (45).

A great knock considering he was crook as a dog 
from a big Sunday session at the Bung. I followed him to the sheds a 
few balls later which had us at 3 for (117) after (14). It was left to 
Lachy, Ronnie, James and Reggie to make the most of the final few 
overs, and all of them did their part to ensure we posted a more than 
defendable score of 6 for 144 after our 20 overs.

We got straight back out there knowing that if we bowled and fielded 
well, it would take a great knock by one of the EBB boys to take this 
match away from us. We made our super-sub, and sent Eddie to the bar 
(which didn't seem to upset him too much) to make room for our secret 
weapon, Jacky boy.

Yeoey Snr started us off....with a shocker. A couple of no-balls gifted them 2 free hits, which wasn't in the game  plan. This got their tails up, so it was great to see Frankie come on 
in a pressure situation and continue his ultra- consistent line and 
length bowling, which got things back on track.

A steady flow of  wickets was the key to keeping the scoreboard pressure on the EBB 
batsmen. This restricted their ability to go really hard at our 
bowling, and it worked perfectly. We were lucky enough to have a 
bowling attack that knows how to bowl full, and one side of the 
wicket, which meant 144 was always going to be hard to chase down.

It was a fantastic effort by all of the bowlers, with Frankie (1/20), Ox 
(2/20), Jacky boy (1/15) and Reggie (1/15) all proving to be made for 
this form of the game. While Yeoey Snr (3/30) proved again that he can 
come back from an ordinary start, to bowl good lines at a good pace.

The fielding was a highlight for me, with some difficult catches being 
held, a couple of fantastic stumpings by Heata, and a great run out by 
Lachy proving you must perform all of the facets of the game well if 
you want to be a successful team. We ended up bowling them out in the 
19th over for 111, which unfortunately thwarted my brilliant plan to 
bring it home by bowling Andy Yeo in the 20th over!! Maybe next year.

This win has put the Burners up in the head to head, which is 
fantastic, with congratulations going to Heata on winning the man of 
the match award.

I did want to make mention of our hosts for the night. The way the 
EBBCC looked after everyone that attended the game was fantastic. The 
drinks kept coming, and the dinner provided was absolutely fantastic. 
So all credit to the club and those involved in organising the event.

Thanks to all of the boys for your support on the night. Captaining 
isn't an easy gig (which is why Brad gets the big bucks!!), but you 
all helped me out which made it an enjoyable night.

I'm sure we will all be eagerly awaiting next years match, and doing 
our best to hold onto the shield.

Thanks.
Tappers.