Arnhem was thrashed in the home match against Nieuwegein. Ibo Illott, windie DJ, showed excellent freewheeling as he guided Nieuwegein to a 7 or 8 wicket victory. When we arrived south of Utrecht and heard of his absence, we knew we'd have a pretty good chance. Likely to be under estimated, and with much more confidence.
Yet again there was an agreement rather than a toss. We opened up the batting with Marleen and Arie. Runs came steadily but after Arie started driving to the covers and getting runs for it, he also took risks. He was caught and was replaced by Gijs. No messing about now. Marleen lost her wicket and our big small man came to the pitch. Soon, Nieuwegein had somehow lost it already. Gijs was aiming for a big score, on a big ground. He and Raja showed excellent running. Prathy took over when Raja got a little over courageous but didn't stay out as long as expected. Joop came to consolidate and with Gijs, 100 was reached at a very reasonable rate. On a personal season best of 54, Gijs no longer had his eye in and was easily bowled. Maarten S. went for slogging straight away but hardly had bat on ball until Joop started talking again. Joop is the type of player whose value can be measured by other players' performances. There's a very loose atmosphere with the seconds, which is alright with newcomers and colts, but some of the elderly like Gijs and Maarten need to receive word from Joop. At long last Maarten S. (19*) got bat on ball. Joop got bowled with 2 balls to spare. Maarten J. was the other not out batsman with amazingly only his first runs for the season. Very unlike the continuous searching after one of his slogs in the nets. Second best score of the season, 137/6/40. The huger the ground, the higher we score. Arnhem needs challenging.
Nieuwegein offered great surinam hospitality, including beer which we just managed to refuse. In the field we swiftly started charging and chasing Nieuwegein, and they didn't like it. We were into playing our tricks again. Adje en Marleen threw a couple of direct hits. Khan made the ball fly over the stumps effortlessly and soon, Nieuwegein had lost all of their main batsmen. Gijs took two catches, and conceived three wickets. Prathy had a terrific second spell, and with Khan catching two great smashes on the leg side, plus two of Marleen's, Nieuwegein were bowled out for exactly 100. Some of our truest fans were sticking out til' the end and considering all, we had an excellent day. With more chicken wings and beer, we hang out for the rest of the evening, comforting Nieuwegein. They felt sincerely shattered, thinking they could win the league unbeaten. So, there's an obligation; the seconds will have to beat the number 2, Son, as well!
Maarten Schiethart