Morale boosting win!
On a balmy summer afternoon, under a cloudless sky and with Gordon winning the toss, the spectators (both of us) looked forward to a run-fest. Washington it seemed had other ideas and with the wicket in a particularly capricious mood, allowing little and on occasion, almost no bounce at all, so it was that after 5 overs, Graces openers Gordon and Dominic were both back in the pavilion with just 3 runs on the board. Stalwarts Shofiq and Mendis set about redeeming the situation with some responsible batting. With the score on 43 however, Shofiq played an in-judicious shot and was caught at deep mid-off for 24. Joined by Niroshan, Mendis went on to play his best knock of the season. The pair added 67 for the fourth wicket before another fine catch ended the innings of Mendis for 56. This brought Manish to the crease, who immediately set off for a run that wasn't there, leaving Niroshan with no where to go but the pavilion for a well struck 21. Wickets continued to fall at a steady rate, with Manish making 13 and Anosh 16 before the innings closed in the thirty eighth over for a competitive 154.
Because of the state of the wicket Gordon decided to open the bowling with a combination of
seam and spin. Anosh's first spell of 3 overs went for 17 to be replaced by
Nihara who's 2 overs went for 18. At the other end Shofiq's first 5 overs went
for 1 run, that a miss field and 3 wickets including the dangerous Hill,
finishing his 8 overs with figures of 3 for 9. Manish and Mendis carried on the
good work with tight spells of 2 for 28 and 1 for 15 respectively from their 8
overs. It was left to skipper Gorden and Anosh to claim 3 of the last 4 wickets
to fall, before a further crazy run out brought proceedings to an end with the
visitors 23 runs short of their target.