Lewis stars in dramatic run chase

It is a number of years since I saw an Ellerslie team at Bramcote so I made sure I called in for a little while once household and gardening tasks were taken care of. The Seconds were in the field and holding the home team in check. I took a slow circuit of the outfield taking some snaps which should be on the website in a few days at the latest. It is a bit like an upturned dish with the ground dropping away to the boundaries and certainly from the pavilion end it looks a bit of an uphill trudge for the bowlers. I saw Vivek Parekh's final over of a spell, which did him a disservice as he was struck for 3 4's - by contrast with 8-4-11-1 to that point. However, at drinks the score was 69-2 with Chamberlain and Littledale repairing a poor start. Usman Khalid was at the beginning of an 11 over stint. This was my first sighting of Usman who has moved between Seconds and Thirds this season. Despite a stuttering run up he was consistently on a good line and length and well deserved his eventual 3 victims including two catches by keeper Ryan Glossop of whom we have not seen enough this summer. At the other end captain Eddy George (now a bit of an old lag, although just 24, as evidenced by nearly 400 wickets for the club) was his usual hustle and bustle and probing line. Littledale found Richard Whittle in the covers off Eddy and Chamberlain was caught off Usman - both going for big shots. The fielding was pretty good with some particularly good throws from the deep by Vivek. Time for me to head off as I had to pick Jane up from the village hall a short journey away in Risley (as you ask, a session with "Living Threads" - very much a ladies thing). The score was 124-5 with 9 overs left. Having done my taxi bit I had to decide whether it was down to Little Bounds or to return to Bramcote. A text from the skipper was a bit of a surprise: Bramcote 191-7. Carnage! It is true Taimoor Safdar (23 wickets at 9.6 in a fine debut season and good at the "death") was not playing but one hoped the senior pros of M T Raza and Eddy would hold the home team in check. In what looks to have been a rerun of Hickling's powerful finish last Saturday, 30 runs were plundered in the last 2 overs due to Pete Hollingsworth who reached 41 n/o in 33 balls. For the second w/end in a row I must confess to a serious lack of faith and settled for the Firsts limping to a losing draw (see brief report). To be fair the prospects did not look great on recent form and when I got a call from Eddy some 30 overs in to the innings we were well off the pace. Early wickets were lost including in form Sam Miller and Richard Whittle; so, 19-2 off 15 and 60-4 off 25. "Chewy" Lewis was sticking in there (and good for him in a season he has been short of runs) but it needed Gagan Sehmbi (38 off 42 deliveries), who has not been able to buy a run, to inject some energy into the chase. At that point it sounded like were we going down fighting but the next message (via Ian Perry) suggested the chase was still on with "M T" now supporting "Chewy" who was going up through the gears. Wonderful then to get the news of a win with an over to spare and the Seconds most unexpected win of the season. MT struck 30 in 23 balls and "Chewy" was the glue scoring 84 n/o (11 4's). Well done to them. They are now just 4 points behind Hickling in 3rd after they were battered by Attenborough (who hasn't been?). All to play for and reason to be cheerful.

Charlie George