Llamas suffer first league loss

The Llamas suffered their first defeat of the league season on Saturday at home to Normandy.

Normandy batted first and patiently made their way to a competitive total. At 221/4 from 46 overs a score over 250 looked likely, however 3 wickets each for the leg-spin twins Munday and Dahl saw the opposition bowled out for 232. There was also a wicket for newly arrived overseas player Alex Ross.

After losing Richie early, the Llamas progressed nicely to be in a strong position at drinks on 103/2 - Luke Haughton leading the way with 58. As always when chasing, wickets in hand at the end would be crucial, but the Llamas found themselves on 160/6 from 40 overs. At this point the required run-rate seemed manageable, however the incoming batsmen from this point were restricted by an injured wrist (Crosthwaite), hamstring injuries (Stevens and Lines, both batting with a runner) and a lack of ability (Munday). In the end the Llamas couldn’t manage a serious challenge on the opposition total.

A score of 197 all out was disappointing, but hopefully the injured players can recover and the boys expect to be firing on all cylinders again in the next match away at newly-promoted Malden Wanderers.