THE MCCU T20 FESTIVAL at LOUGHBOROUGH – 24 / 25 JUNE 2011

DAY 1 – Leeds-Bradford chose to bat first against Durham in our first game on the Haslegrave pitch. We totalled 151-6, a total that recovered well from the depths of 15-3, thanks to a magnificent 87* by Luis Reece (55 balls, with 7 fours and 3 sixes). He also played the “DiliScoop” 3 times and hit 2 fours and 1 maximum using this innovative shot and, more importantly, kept a full set of front teeth.

Such a total should have given us a fighting chance but, with the batters getting some runs, the bowlers failed to deliver and Durham promptly got home by 4 wickets, although with only 2 deliveries left.

Our 2^nd group game saw us take on Cambridge, also on the main pitch at Haslegrave. A very similar story can be reported as above. A better start saw us total an even higher 160-9, built around Ben Slater’s 64 (51 balls with 10 fours). That total got even better at the interval as the Umpires ruled that Cambridge had taken too long to bowl their 20 overs and so awarded 6 penalty runs to Leeds-Bradford, meaning Cambridge needed a very high total of  167. But the bowlers again could not deliver as Cambridge raced to 60 from the first 5 overs and eventually got home with 8 deliveries left.

DAY 2 – The above results meant we had to move to Brockington for the Saturday and play Oxford for the honour of 5^th or 6^th place. We did not need to beat our way through the crowds.

We had our worst start of the tournament as we slipped to 4-3 but Luis Reece, again, with 46* steadied us, with successive partnership with Brad Kruger and Harry Bush. At 85-5, with 7 overs left  and Reece still going strong, the 2^nd interruption occurred and it was then decided that enough was enough and the game was abandoned.

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