It was the hottest day of the year so far as the Pilgrims arrived at the magnificent Bank of England grounds to face the Sargent Men.

In charitable mood, we temporarily transferred three of our number – Curly, Daisy and Tris – enabling the hosts to field a team of ten.

The Colonel, he win the toss and we bat on very hard wicket.

Pilco scored a boundary an over while Bully practised his French cuts at the other end. He finally troubled the scorer with the Pilgrims on 30 with the on-drive of the season. The attack bowled straight and eventually one snuck through Pilco’s defences before Bully went a French cut too far and dragged one on shortly after.

At 33 for two the innings needed some steadying. Skipper Penthouse decided this meant running out Brent McFly with a superb “yes/no” shimmy and our Aussie’s hopes of topping his high score of one came to an all-to-early end after a direct hit from the field.

Moggie, unfortunately, was unable to match his heroics of the previous week, bowled for five. The pitch began playing tricks and the Colonel was soon out to a quick ground grubber.

Now, with the score at 50 odd for five, the innings really did need solidity. Enter Pammers and his four-foot-wide bat. Nothing could get through as he raced to his 22 dot ball jug (oh – that wasn’t mentioned in the court room – ed.), supporting Penthouse who poured on the runs at the other end. After almost an hour at the crease Pammers succumbed to a bails-high full toss and the man-of-the-match performance was over – a very valuable 14 contributed.

Aslan and Tipple were out quickly after with a couple of boundaries each and Hughie had hardly taken his mark before he was clean bowled. Penthouse’s final flurry ended when he was caught and bowled for a magnificent 86. Hansie finished in the red ink.

Interesting to note that apart from a caught and a run out, all the wickets were bowled. Perhaps a pitch on which the batsmen should have got forward more.

Tea was dead posh.

With 177 on the board the Pilgrims needed some early wickets. They didn’t come.

The SM openers included a familiar face in the form of Daisy MCLL who proved difficult to remove. They edged and pushed their way to 50 and while Tipple and Aslan provided a few chances, it was the ever-reliable Hansie who made the breakthrough, bowling the guy who wasn’t Daisy. Marty came on at the other end and his first ball, a superbly disguised long hop, was spooned to mid-wicket and the Pilgrims were back in the game. Tris had been dishing out hours of sledging from the field and over tea, so how sweet it was when he was caught behind four balls later.

Hughie joined the attack, bowling quick and restricting the scoring so that with 20 overs remaining they required a run rate of more than seven to win. Daisy was finally run out for 42 by his captain, the suicidal Seedy. Marty claimed another vital wicket, removing their big hitter – a well-taken catch taken in the sternum by Penthouse at short mid-off.

Things were tense – five overs to go, the hosts needed 30-odd. Seedy played a great knock but was beaten by Hansie on 30. Another run out at the start of the next over and the Pilgrims only needed two more wickets for victory. But it was not to be as the gaps were found and more edgy shots went for boundaries. Another at the start of the penultimate over and the hosts were jubilant.

Queue Trish and more sledging.

A fun match but a shame to be on the wrong side of the ledger.

Man of the Match: Pammers

Fines levied: £14.49

Presiding: Capt. Pilco