With the promises of a cut-off low storm hitting that evening – we were warmly welcomed to the Scorpions home ground on a mild Saturday morning. After the Drakkies and half the Scorpions introduced themselves to the other half of the new members at Scorpions, the toss was made and the home team skipper, Gav opted to bowl on a wicket freshly prepared by the Greek Goddess Antheia.
It was great to see the opening pair of Jaco Swarts and Marko Combrink stride out to the middle to face the opening attack from Maze and Graham. It was quickly evident that trusting the bounce on the pitch was going to be impossible and both Jaco and Marko tried to bed down against the openers before Jaco was caught behind by a ball that both seamed and popped. Conrad Schultz entered the fray and was by far the pick of the batsmen for Drakkies on the day. He seemed to catch onto the speed of the pitch quite quickly and scored an impressive 45. Along the way he was joined by new member Christiaan Ritter who looked in great form before being caught for 23 as he got into the swing of it.
Alan, Craig, Morne, Albert and William didn’t contribute much whilst Wessel put on a strong 17 and Liam was not out 19 with Drakkies posting a low 132 all out. It was definitely not a 200 pitch and feelings at the lunch break was 150 would have been defendable.
The Groot Drak side knew they had to bowl tight and field well to make a game of this one and opening bowlers Liam (0/12 off 7) and Conrad (1/28 off 7) certainly did this. Liam was very unlucky not to get a few wickets as he beat the batters at least twice an over.
Pat Lawson (20) and Jacques (47 N/O) stuck around with Pat ultimately falling to the bowling of Conrad which brought Dave Bakker to the field which we knew was a big wicket to get. Craig McNaught was introduced to the attack and bowled a steady spell of 0/22 off 4.
Halftime drinks heralded the score being only 57-1 with both a lot of batting and a lot of bowling to do but it gave a hint that the game was shaping up to be a tight one.
Dave was dismissed shortly after drinks by great bowling from Christaan (2/21 from 7) and Mario Solomons shortly after that. With 10 overs to go Scorpions were 92-3 and the game was on.
Alan Sherratt (1/32 from 7) and Albert van Tonder (0/14 from 4) took over the bowling duties and it all came down to the last over where a drop catch and a risky hit over the top meant the Scorpions reached their required 133 with 3 balls to go.
The spirit of the game and drinks and boeries rolls afterwards only added to what had been an amazing day of cricket and we would like to thank the Scorpions for hosting us on a tricky but amazing fixture. It is an honour to play alongside like minded cricketers and this game is a testament to the ethos of friendly cricket.
Scorpions – we will see you on the return leg.
Man of the match was given to Liam and Jacques whilst Craig and William shared the duck hat.
