Aussie ace Sam Lavender smashed 75 despite a massive hangover but the Orange Caps were unable to churn out a victory against Butterlords CC.
A combination of tight bowling and an outfield slower than a King’s Load relay team meant quick runs were hard to come by in the timed game at Regent’s Park.
A solid opening partnership between acting skipper Dan Sherman and Raju Mazumder put on 35 before the Bangladeshi Boycott was caught for 8.
Sherman and Lavender then took the score to 62 before the skipper fell for 29, while next man in David Hughes could only manage 1 before missing a straight one.
The ball wasn’t the only thing that was swinging at Regent’s Park, as Adam Zabel discovered while chatting to four spectators who turned out to be two wife-swapping couples.
Lewis Robinson was out for 9 and at the tea interval the Road were still short of a total to bowl at.
The home side did not lay on a spread for tea, but King’s Road stepped up to the plate and then came back to seconds, with highlights including Raju’s frittata and Zabel’s homemade Pesto.
Jamie Keating was proud of his bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches – and rightly so as they were “the first time I’ve ever cooked anything”.
Fortified by tasty treats, skipper Sherman sent Lavender and David Dawkins back out to bat with an order to swing the willow for 5 overs to give the Road’s bowlers something to work with.
Dawkins fell for 16 and Zabel (0 not out) was largely a spectator as Lavender hit out in an innings which included 8 boundaries to take the Road’s total to 171-5 declared off 47 overs.
After a lengthy period in the field under a blazing sun, Butterlords’ hopes of victory began to melt away as first Chris Brown and then Robinson struck.
Teas for @KRCSC match vs Butterlords today. #teasmakeroftheyearcontender pic.twitter.com/x6WSRtNVyE
— Raju Mazumder (@rajumazumder) June 27, 2015
Brown bowled Streatfield for 10 and Robinson galloped in to take the wicket of Bowdler for 2 – sharply caught at slip by Muhammed Shaboodien – leaving Butterlords 35-2.
Both openers finished with figures of 1-13 off 6.
Shaboodien then struck with his bowling, the South African claiming the wicket of Luke Grob, caught by Brown, and finished with 1-26 off 6.
The next two wickets fell to Moin Khan, mixing up his quicker and slower deliveries beautifully on his way to 2-32 off 8.
With the batsmen starting to hit out, Sherman turned to the spin of Keating and Zabel, who each responded with a wicket.
Keats’ 4 overs went for 33 as the Butterlords tried to get after him, but he claimed the wicket of Drew Hill.
Zabel’s only over went for 8 but included the wicket of the dangerous Jasper Ridley who had smashed 42 off 31 balls.
But with time running out, despite aggressive captaincy from Sherman the Road were unable to take the remaining 3 wickets and Butterlords finished on 142-7 off 31 overs.