So 3s v 4s in the Quarter final of the Sunday T20 cup that the 3s have dominated over the last decade. 5 consecutive finals days, surely a 6th one on the cards against the 4th team even if they are the second best team in Sunday cricket.

The absolute chaos of the 4s run chase which i am still reeling from means our own batting seems a distant memory but let me try and do it justice.

Out strode Mash and Adam to get us going in the power play and they got us off to an absolute flyer. Mash 12 off the first over looked like another big score from him on the cards until Joe Ramsden yorked him with an absolute beauty. Adam's 2023 form is phenomenal and today was no difference smashing a 17 ball 50 on his way to a sublime 63.
Madhu took his first of 2 very good catches off Harry Aggarwal but with us sitting on 94/2 from about 8 overs we had a great platform with which to continue attacking.
Harry and Madhu both bowled really well to slow the run rate but Reilly (23), Whiteside (35 from 28) and Enam (28 from 15) continued to propel us to a huge score.
Aaron, Joe and Seb i thought all bowled well despite their figures. It was an excellent batting wicket, short boundaries and up against quality batsmen smashing good or bad balls. None of them should be disappointing in their performances.

CB joined me at the end for one ball to blast a 6 but surely it wasn't crucial as 195 was surely 40 runs too many. For context no side has scored more than 180 against us in 40 overs this year and last year i don't think anyone set us a target higher than that in 45 overs!

Were we complacent, did we think the game was won? We said all the right things but did we actually believe the 4s had a chance? Maybe since we haven't had a proper "tough" game all season we expected to drift through the overs and be comfortable again.

Who knows the psychology of Sunday cricketers...

Anyway, i won't talk about our bowlers too much as they've been critical enough of themselves after the game and it also detracts from the superb batting we saw from Dev, Simon and Mike.

All 3 cleanly hitting any poor ball to the fence and running far better singles than we did throughout the first 6 overs put us under immense pressure. Staring at 100/1 from about 9 overs was not something i've experienced for some time and it was hard to stop the flow.

Thankfully Zack and Luuk turned the tide back to us. Zack's economy of 4 an over when both teams were scoring at close to 10 an over is beyond impressive. Luuk at the other end got the prized wicket of Lord and 2 more after that put us in command. Absolutely crucial spells from the pair of them and once Harry Youell was out i took a breath.

I took that breath way way too soon. 137/7 meant 4s still needed 10 an over with what should have been just the tail left. Up steps Seb Byrne to launch the ball to all parts of the ground and have the crowd back on their feet. His innings of 38 from 16 balls was pure clean hitting and never looked like stopping. Enam finally breached his defence and I once again took a far too early breath.

18 needed from 2 overs with number 9 and 10 in. Surely…

Joe Ramsden instantly smashes a straight 4 and him and Harry A running singles everywhere leave just 8 needed off the last over. As I scramble for field settings and various players pointing and shouting left right and centre it was left to Sean Reilly to take the ball under immense pressure.
His final over was fantastic. No wides, slower balls and ultimately no easy balls to hit left the 4s just 5 runs short of one of the greatest victories (appalling defeats) any of us would have been apart of.

We emerged victorious but realistically all the plaudits went to the underdogs. The 3s head to their 6th straight finals day even though in the changing rooms afterwards it was fairly flat. We’d been pushed harder than before and probably just the kick up the backside we needed.

We have a HUGE top of the table clash against a Georgians side who sit top with 7 wins from 7 due to our rained off game last week. And breathe.