Story Three Lions on the Shirt? - Match Day: Northamptonshire fight back!!!

[freddiw]

wow tommy about 10 comments, a story writes dream

good work coming back and just dont stop

 

[The Mongrel]

Some pretty average shots in the first ten overs but you've at least knocked off a big chunk of the required runs.

van Jaarsveld should be able be able to bat through this innings with you - class player.

 

[Highlander999]

Thursday 11th April

Myself and Martin had a lot of pressure on us. If either one of us was to get out now, it would put a considerable amount of pressure on the lower order. The thing was, we only needed 101 runs to win of 40+ overs. If we could just keep our heads and not do any stupid shots, we would easily make it.

I however, begun to really push my luck. I was struck on the pads by Streak and it feel like a close call so I shuffled my leg over to make it look less obvious. Luckily the umpire had been half asleep and he turned the appeal down. I was then dropped by Carter trying to play the ball of my legs. It was a very tricky catch with him having to dive forwards at square leg but at this level you've got to take your chances. I decided that I would not waste these moments of good fortune and the next ball I crashed away for 4, to really boost my confidence. Over the next few overs, I begun to hit some very nice shots and myself and Martin began to build a steady partnership. Martin and I were now feeling a bit more confident and I was determined to see the innings out.

Unfortunately it seemed Martin did not want to see out the innings with me. 5 minutes of madness cost him his wicket. First he was bowled off a no-ball attempting to slog sweep. He then edged one into the vacant slip area. He then swung and miss a couple of times. I went down the track to have a word with him, to try and calm him down. It was like he was trying to impersoante a windmill with all these wild shots. Eventually and to no ones surprise, he was finally dismissed. He completely mis-judged the slower ball by Streak and ended up spooning it straight up in the air. It did look like it might land in no mans land, however, Streak in a moment of brilliance skidded around and took a good catch. I could see that Martin was annoyed but I was also annoyed with him. We had been building a really solid partnership and now he had gone and thrown his wicket away, putting a lot of pressure on myself and Darren. It was ironic that we weren't even out of the powerplay overs and yet had already chased down half of Warwickshire's total, and worringly we had lost 4 wickets.

Darren shoon arrived looking eager,

"Alright Tom? Ready to win this match for us? I am "

"Good to see your up for this mate. I don't know why everyone is throwing away their wickets. The pitch is a road. Just play it sensible."

That was the key for us. This pitch should have been a batsman's paradise. Instead so far all of our batsmen were trying to throw the game. Myself and Darren would have to pretty much take us to the brink of victory, as we could not rely on Andy and the tail to do it for us.

Unfortunately for Darren he soon was dismissed. One good point was it wasn't a stupid shot, it was just bad luck. I had earlier had been dropped at square-leg, Darren was not quite so lucky and managed to hit the ball slightly higher. This resulted in Brown taking a very simple catch, which left Kent now on 80/5 still needing 66 runs. This was getting slightly ridicolous. I gave Darren a sympathetic look as he trudged off. That was more bad luck than poor shot selection. This now meant that Andy was going to have to finish off the innings with me. At least I hadn't forced him to have to bat which meant my kit was probably safe. Actually knowing Andy he had probably still thrown it all over the place

Before Andy even had a chance to speak I said,

"Is my stuff safe? If it's not your getting the next full ball aimed back at you "

"Let's put it this way. If you see out the end of the innings, not only will I not sabotage your kit I'll also buy you a pint "

"That is a deal mate. I honestly can't see why our guys are making such a fuss on this pitch. It is designed for run-scoring. We just need to keep it simple."

That would be the key for me and Andy, Just keeping it simple. The whole innngs now rested on our shoulders. We could either save Kent from a shock defeat or else we would end up suffering one of our worse defeats in a long time. It was probably ok of me to say, I was slightly nervous



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Thanks everyone for commenting so far

 

[Mr. Kurns]

KUTGW Thomasion J. B. Q. H. T. O. U. R. A. P. U. F. T. R. Bakerparticus, good updates, can't wait to see some wickets fall :P

 

[formula1man]

come on Tom you can do it, hope you get a big score

 

[thesweepmaster]

please Tom, for Warwickshire and me, just throw your wicket away and give us a victory :crying.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Great update Tom...u cud win the match....

 

[tonka998]

Oh dear... dont throw this one away Tom!! Keep it going!!

 

[Pakistani Army]

Just play sensibly and pick up the singles and you will win this match.

 

[treva]

Still waiting for you to choke. I reckon you lose by 1 run with you the last man out

 

[vaibhav mehta]

Win it Tom or Kev will ban you..

Mighty Call,but still Kent to win.

 

[mattfb]

Kent in trouble but you just need a to get a good partnership.

66 runs in roughly 100 balls is what you should aim for, concentrate Tom!

 

[Jit]

Still waiting for you to choke. I reckon you lose by 1 run with you the last man out

lol i dont think tom gonna let that happen

 

[Cricketdude]

This is the best story going around at the moment. Just stay in tom!!!

 

[Highlander999]

Thanks for all the comments guys. It's really appreciated

I had just written up the next update which took about 3/4 of an hour and was looking very nice. I stupidly wasn't thinking though and instead of exiting photobucket I exited out of Planetcricket losing my stuff : I'll try and update it sometime this afternoon