Dawning Bright and warm and promising a great day for cricket, Inland Small beckoned as Glenmore hoped to take their winning tally to 3 games in a row. Winning the toss and based on the proven formula of bowling and fielding well and then chasing moderate totals, Crown were asked to bat first. This proved to be the wrong decision in hindsight however given the weather Glenmore has battled so far this season playing a full day in the sun is an anomaly.

Both Bobby and Ali opened with tight probing spells but could not get the breakthrough with Moe the Crown left handed opener hitting anything short or down legside to the boundary and often over it. Some early missed chances saw the Crown opening pair settle in taking the stand past 50 . The introduction of Ruwan to the attack should have brought immediate results with 3 catches going down behind the wicket off his first over. Finally the opening stand was broken with Ruwan luring the other Crown opener Yasir into a lofted drive to mid off where Ryan used various unorthodox parts of his anatomy to clutch the catch.

Crown went to the first drinks break only one wicket down and looking dangerous. Sandeep and Richard took up a combined spin attack through the middle of Crown's innings. Anything short was dealt with by Moe as he got to his 50 and continued to find the boundary with any loose offerings. The pattern of catching for Glenmore continued to let the bowlers down until Ayam the Crown captain edged Sandeep to Bray at first slip. Moe gave several chances including one in the nervous 90's before claiming the milestone. The Crown middle order came out with intent given the huge platform presented them by the top 3. 2 more wickets to Sandeep including Moe finally stumped by DeFreitas giving him the best figures of 3/57 from 9 overs and a wicket for Richard with Bobby taking the catch as the batsman trod all over his stumps.

Ali came to the crease and immediately started swinging at everything. Dropped catches again allowed the Crown batting lineup to take full advantage of the tiring Glenmore bowling. Given the fantastic fielding and bowling that sculpted the two previous Glenmore wins this season it was uncharacteristic to see a throwback to some of Glenmore's worst performances in the field in the club's history. Ali went on to make a massive quickfire 71 leaving Crown in the commanding position of having 290 runs on the board and the Glenmore batsman having everything to do.

Needing a good start after the break Glenmore started extremely well with a quick 50 opening stand between Bray and Thusantha before Bray edged behind bringing Storey to the crease. Alex looked fluid and in command for what was to be his best innings for the club to date. Ruwan rode some luck interspersed with some fantastic shots to fall just 2 runs short of his 50.  at 2 for 120+ with the run rate under control Glenmore looked in a strong position. Unfortunately The Glenmore pattern of middle order woes continued with 3 wickets falling quickly as Sandeep, Anjan and then Trevor came and went unable to stick with Storey who looked composed and in complete control waiting on the loose ball which he punished including 3 huge sixes and ticking the runs over with constant singles and doubles. Ryan entered the fray and picked up where he left off in the win over St John's partnering perfectly with Storey as they began to try to rebuild the innings and continue the push for victory. Storey who seemed to be tiring at the crease almost came undone with a controversial catch taken by Safi at Point that was judged not out. Almost within sight of a maiden ton on 87 Storey lifted one to mid on and his fantastic innings came to an end as did the best chance for Glenmore to get over the line. With Ryan at the crease there was still a chance if he could get the tail to stick with him. With Umar Farooq down from Crown II for this game bowling a penetrating spell Bobby, Ali and Nadeem could only contribute 1 run between them with Ali on the wrong end of the straight drive, bowlers fingers, stumps scenario that is the worst nightmare for any cricketer. Richard looked to be showing good support as a last wicket miracle was the order of the day. Ryan looked to be aggressive when possible and defensive when needed but couldn't safely navigate a Safi slower ball and Glenmore fell 62 runs short.

A lot learned from this game the most important of which was that catches win matches. Some fantastic batting from the Vice Captain with a magnificent 87 that almost clinched victory including 3 fours and 3 sixes and a strong opening stand from Ruwan 48 and Bray 29 and the lower middle order heroics of Ryan 32. Also some great bowling from Ruwan who was extremely unlucky to finish with only 1 wicket and the great spell from Sandeep with his 3/57 in partnership with Richard who was also unlucky to only pick up 1 wicket.

I'm sure given the great atmosphere this year in the club that we will be able to put this performance behind us and take some of the positives forward into our remaining 6 games. Congratulations again to Alex Storey for achieving his highest score.