Pessimists nearly blow game they had under control

NRG Pessimists got their Barclays Premier One season off the ground with a tight win over DB Taverners on Friday. In classic evening league style, the match ebbed and flowed, but Pessimists would have been the more disappointed to lose.

They held the cards for most of the match, but nearly blew it at the death.

As captain Tim Belton said, it was the sort of game a team was delighted to win, but gutted to lose.

His side were indebted to B team regular John Luff, who came to the crease with a run-a-ball target of 14 to win.

Justin Scriven's two wickets for one run in that over, the 15th of 17 in the innings, had made Taverners slight favourites for the first time in a long time.

If skipper Robbie Moore could keep the runs down in his last over, Taverners felt that Scriven might have been able to grab them a last-over win.

But Luff smashed two short deliveries for four - one through the covers and one over mid-wicket - to leave his side needing just a single off the final over, which Mike Wall scrambled with four balls to go.

Taverners' batting, having won the toss, was similar to their previous week's effort against Deloitte.

A rollocking six-an-over start seemed the base for a big score, but once Moore lofted Dave Piesing's second ball straight to Pierre Moody at deep square leg, the innings lost momentum.

Just 15 runs were scored in five overs until Andy Orme ignited the effort, striking four fours in making 23 from just 12 balls.

The Pessimists reply to their 96 was steady, but never lost control of the target, despite tight bowling from Scriven and Jonathan Wilkes-Green.

All the Pessimists top order made a contribution, though James Warr's effort was ended by a stunning catch from Scriven, who threw himself full-length at mid-wicket to cling on to a remarkable two-handed effort.

For Taverners, though, such inspiration was not quite enough.

In the end, the quality of the support bowling decided the match.

Pessimists' second string of Piesing and Simon Walker claimed 3-32 off eight overs, while Moore and Richard Walker went for 52 from seven.