Flyford taste defeat again in a nail biting thriller at Overbury

Report by Joe Chapman

Alas, Flyford were the victims of a second low-scoring thriller this season after we succumbed to a narrow T20 defeat against the scenic backdrop of Overbury on a glorious Wednesday evening in Tewkesbury. The Flav bowled and fielded brilliantly as a collective after the hosts won the toss and elected to bat and we restricted them to just 118 runs in their innings.

The pitch offered some unpredictable bounce for the bowlers, with little in it for our spinners, who both bowled particularly diligently. The outfield, which had clearly benefitted from a spell of dry weather, was slow - aerial shots plugged and the perimeter on the boundary was especially deceptive - many shots appeared to be heading for four before the batters in the middle realised the ball wasn't reaching and a second run between the wickets was scrambled!

The effervescent Pete Holpin struck in the first over of the match before yours truly - after a rather wayward introduction back into action! - was the beneficiary of a quite brilliantly judged catch at long off by Ash Rahman, who clung onto a ball which had looped up into the air and was anything but straightforward.

That was the other significant factor - the sky was royal blue but the cloud cover was non-existent. The sun hung low for practically the entire match and posed issues for those (Steve Beavan) who went without sunglasses. It made Ash's take all the more impressive and he rightly claimed the Champagne Moment award.
Captain Bev turned to Paul 'Ollie' Holland as the first change bowler at one end, while young Harrison - drafted into the side - partnered him up at the other end. While Ollie's four-over spell (0/15) came and went unrewarded, he did his bit for the team and kept things tight.

Harrison duly cashed in on the pressure being applied and his excellent figures of 2/8 involved some brilliant line and length bowling with a touch of pace and bounce - Ash again was on hand to take a more regulation catch.

Young Andrew then came into the attack and he too made a significant impact with the bubblegum pink ball. One Overbury batter dramatically dragged onto his stumps as he reached for a wider ball he might've left, while another was clean bowled. It was a similar fate for the victims of Connor Andrews, whose quicker spin caught a couple of lower order bats out.

Fly were sharp in the field - save for one Joe Allsop moment in the deep which earned him the Tit award - and 119 seemed for all the world like it was gettable, with the batting firepower at our disposal. Credit to our hosts, though, who bowled pretty disciplined throughout and ensured that it wasn't exactly a stroll.
Messrs Teal and Rahman opened up, but the former made way when he was snaffled at square leg. Ash was joined by Walks in the middle, and the pair went about chasing down the run-a-ball target. There were perhaps more dots than they would have liked, which in turn built up pressure. While Walks made his custom 30 and retired, Fly picked out fielders and found scoring tricky.

Connor brought some late impetus after Joe A had been expertly taken behind the stumps after he nicked off in attempting to put a dent in the required total, but Fly came up agonisingly short in the final over and lost by a matter of runs. In all, though, it was a lovely evening with horses, San Miguels and questionable showers. Onto Bushley!

MOTM – Harrison, for his figures of 3-0-8-2

Tit - Joe Allsop for being caught gazing longingly at George Teal as a catching opportunity presented itself
Champagne Moment – Some brilliant work in the deep by Ash Rahman to remove Overbury's powerful top order batter
Thanks For Coming - Captain Bev. No batting, no bowling but a fair bit of umpiring.

A special thank you for the above excellent report to Joseph 'Scoop' Chapman who stepped in for your usual correspondent at short notice and has now been officially given the job of Deputy Report writer.