With the sun shining in Lower Cambourne, we kicked off the season with a friendly vs Cambourne Centaurs. It was a close-run game, with the Bombers squeaking past the Centaurs’ total with just a few balls to spare.

Azhar and Aazir opened the batting for Centaurs, facing up to Liam and Achintya. Liam took an over or so to loosen up, but then hit some fine line and length, with good swing. At the other end, Achintya produced some classy off-spin - using flight, spin and variations of pace to keep the batsmen guessing. He was quickly rewarded with a plum LBW to dislodge Azhar. That brought danger-man Syed to the crease, and after a few singles to get his eye in, he began dispatching the ball to all corners of the ground.

Zinny replaced Liam at the Sweetentree end, and struck immediately thanks to an astounding diving catch by Josh at mid-on. At drinks, Centaurs had 81 for 2 from 17 overs. A change of bowling at the other end produced another wicket, as TK trapped Qaiser LBW. That set up a steady partnership between Syed and Azzi, until TK tempted Azzi to edge behind to Josh.

That brought ATM to the middle, and he quickly set about the bowlers, crashing boundaries all around the ground. A couple of overs from James T also allowed Syed to boost his score with several fours and a couple of booming sixes. Humberto took over from Zinny, and was eventually rewarded with the wicket of ATM, as Obaid held on to a steepling catch. TK finally managed to get the better of Syed, and second catch from Obaid put him on a hat-trick. Saqib was up to the challenge, though, and deftly defended the hat-trick ball.

After a glorious tea, kindly provided by Centaurs (I think they were trying to slow us down with all that excellent cake!), the Bombers took to the middle. Humberto wasted no time in dispatching the ball to the boundaries, while Stephen picked up runs more slowly, partnering Humberto very well. GK and Husnain bowled tightly for Centaurs, but the batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking along steadily. A change of bowling saw Humberto begin to cut loose, plundering boundaries from Atif , and even sending one of Saqib’s deliveries sailing over School Lane and onto the roof of the three-storey house opposite.

It was ATM who finally broke the partnership (worth 123 runs), thanks to an aerial catch on the boundary from Syed. That brought in Obaid, who after a slowish start began to accumulate some runs. Stephen continued to pick the bad balls and rotate the strike, until a miscommunication saw him run out. Vijay pushed Obaid to up the run rate (with 8 an over required from the last 6 overs), and added a couple of his own before being bowled by Syed. Phillip fell to a second run-out, after being sent back by Obaid, which brought in TK to finish the job. Between them, TK and Obaid knocked off the remaining runs, with just 8 balls to spare.