Having made the trip to Dill Hall Lane and basically warmed up and watched it rain three times in five weeks, our 2nd round tie against Enfield was finally completed at the fourth attempt, and how.
The Angel Goes Berserk Part One
Switched to Acre Bottom due to the original hosts holding a fundraiser, we were again batting first on a track that looked full of runs with a top six that had been more than happy to provide them over the past month. Following a quiet start, we found ourselves 34-1 after the first 10.
Me and Nick took the score to 84 before I holed out to the mid-wicket boundary for 29. When drinks arrived, we were 121-2 and seemingly well set to post a good total, with Pricey aggressive from the off and Nick pottering along in his unwavering way.
Shortly after Pricey (25) was trapped in front, and what ensued from there was nothing short of ridiculous. As the captain walked to the crease with the score at 130 and roughly 22 overs left, there were genuinely murmurs of whether we could get to 280. Dale seemingly had other ideas. After a watchful start, The Angel unloaded a barrage of boundaries upon the Enfield attack. Scoring all around the wicket, but in particular pulling spare after spare into Roger’s caravan, he actually overtook Nick and beat him to his maiden 2nd XI 100, which considering Niko was 70-odd not out when they came together is outrageous.
Nick reached his first 2nd XI century shortly after to the delight of what was a decent crowd, before finally being caught on the edge for a brilliant 111. Meanwhile, Stale continued his onslaught and reached 150* off 80 (eighty) balls with 19 fours and 5 sixes, with the Rams finishing on a monstrous 357-4 from our 50.
We went on to bowl Enfield out for 128 with Brad Wilson and Chris Round picking up three-a-piece, but that batting performance will live long in the memory. To add some context to just how ridiculous the last ten overs were, whilst collecting for his half-century, me and Pricey were speculating as to whether Dale would get to 100 if he batted through.
Dale, Nick, me and Ben have now all made centuries in the last month, with Mike making 91 against Rochdale. No other team has made one, which gives some idea as to the sort of form our top six are taking into the business end of the season.
We welcome Littleborough for the quarter final in two weeks-time.
Johnny Dack