By Andrew Atkinson
LaMangaTorre CC suffered a seven wicket defeat in their second T20 game of 2019 against Madrid 1st.
Captain Kieran Wood won the toss and elected to bat first, partnering C.Rumi in opening the batting.
LaMangaTorre CC went looking for an early attack, to avoid being pinned down early, with 32 being hit from the first four overs.
The runs slowed down, with overs going for three to six runs, with the first wicket falling when a full toss saw C.Rumi hit the ball well – but straight to mid on – for a simple catch.
A few glares for a no-ball call were made, the umpire raising a finger to see the end of C.Rumi.
- Gara came in at 3, and tried to tap the ball into gaps for singles, but three overs later tried doing too much, hitting the ball back to the bowler, for a catch.
- Neve came in at 4 and got off the mark straight away, keeping the singles ticking with K.Wood.
Trying to go aggressive and up the run rate saw G.Neve caught at long on; and 3 balls later K.Wood was caught at long off (68/4 (12 overs).
Two new batsmen came in, with T. Knowles and P. Singh. The next over saw T. Knowles chipping the ball kindly to covers – bringing in P.Fletcher.
The 16th over saw the fall of P. Singh, falling victim to another full toss, caught, which was questioned for a no-ball – but ignored by the umpire, ending in P.Singh walking. C.Wood went in.
- Fletcher took the spotlight with a nice display of hard hitting and quick running.
The last four overs went for 24 runs, with the last ball of the innings seeing P. Fletcher bowled, bringing the total to 109/7 (20 overs).
LaMangaTorre CC batting performance scores: K.Wood (34) and P.Fletcher (22).
LaMangaTorre CC had a massive change in tactics, as Madrid went in to bat. K.Wood turned his arm over in the first over, with Mr.Chairman H.James.
A costly couple of overs from K. Wood saw him quickly replaced for P. Singh, as he claimed a wicket through a top edge going high in the air and keeper T. Knowles getting under it and taking it. 32/1 (5 overs).
The new partnership grew gradually with H. James and P. Singh continuing the pressure.
The breakthough came in the tenth over, when the bowling change of A. Court forced the batsmen to sky the ball to cow corner, where P. Fletcher made a nice catch, when sliding across the floor. 62/2 (10 overs).
Some big hitting saw the runs continue for opener J. Nicholas.
- Court struck again, when a slower ball wasn’t picked up, clean bowling J. Woodward.
The runs ticked along, with C. Wood coming on to bowl, to see if he could shine some light and lift the team.
However it was too little too late, as opener J. Nicholas hit a four – to win the game and to bring up his 52*.
LaMangaTorre CC suffering defeat, by 7 wickets.
“LaMangaTorre CC took positive thinking in defeat, with some fine performances,” captain Kieran Wood told The Leader.
*Pinatar played Levante, with the former batting first in both games, putting on 181, only to have Levante chase the score on both occasions.
