There were plenty of positives on show during Saturday's excellent match against Woodbank, with the only disappointment being the result.
Batting first on a parched wicket that played well, but for a smattering of deliveries that bounced inconsistently, Steve Mac perished early followed by Caleb with only 27 on the board. Sam played fluently and it was something of a shock when he went at 94-3 having scored 45 in a partnership of 67 with Gareth Cross. When Praharsh went a run later, up stepped Ben Hamilton to retrieve the situation with an assured half century. His partnership of 77 with Gareth, who had moved smoothly on to 75, put the 200+ in focus and provided Zach with the platform to play one of his cameos. His 22 in 14 balls pushed the score to 232-7 at the close, a score that the watching hordes thought was slightly above par for the conditions.
It was not to be however, as the lively track that we saw before tea suddenly became very benign. It didn't help when Ollie pulled up with a muscle problem and, despite Crossy plugging manfully away at the other end, the visitors were able to put together partnerships that edged them towards their target.
Owen Hogben was called into the fray to bowl his maiden 1st XI spell and with his 28th delivery, he captured his first wicket. He went onto finish with a creditable 2-56, but unfortunately, former CCC import Matt Wilkes was closing in on only his 4th ever half century and despite losing eight wickets in the chase, the visitors completed an annoying league double with a comfortable fourteen balls to spare.
It was a tough pill to swallow as, without Finn to call upon and Ollie's injury, lady luck abandoned Sam's attack and left him having to settle for just one point on the day.