With midsummer just days away, even a delayed start didn’t prevent the skippers from agreeing to play the full 20 overs, and The Badger won the toss, putting the full-strength 11 Blades in to bat. Farmer and Richardson played their usual cultured innings, picking off any bad balls. Both were hitting and running well as the Blades reached 61-0 from 8 overs. Richardson was unlucky to see a beautiful shot off the middle of the bat caught on 15 by a stunning diving catch, while Farmer powered to his customary retirement with 27. Hurst and Whitear M kept the rate moving, assisted by a powerful innings from wides – in particular one twelve-ball over! Whitear M reached retirement hooking a high ball into the trees for four, resulting in a delay while the red pill was found. Hunter hit big when he joined the fray, including 12 from a single over, and the Blades innings closed on a huge 150-5, the third highest ever 20-over score and the best since July 2014.
With a big total to chase, Winchester were always up against it, and when Lowe claimed the first wicket in the fourth with the score at 19, the Blades supremacy was already beginning to tell. Blades were excellent in every aspect of their fielding and bowling – the fact that it took until the 13th over for Winchester to hit their second four tells a story. Hunter took a confident catch on the boundary from Lowe’s bowling and followed it up with a direct hit run out in the same over. Terry took a wicket with his first ball thanks to a Hamer catch, and Farmer joined the Direct Hit club aswell. All calculations of run rate targets were irrelevant as the Blades turned the screw. Whitear J bowled two exceptional overs for just 3 runs and Winchester limped home to 96-8 at the close.
RESULT: Blades WIN by 54 runs
**EDIT 22/06** Dale has advised that Hunter’s run out was not a direct hit, Dale took it in the gloves and whipped the bails off so quickly that your correspondent missed it. It was still very sharp cricket though. The ChaMo list has been amended accordingly
Champagne moment contenders:
Hunter’s long-range missile throw to the gloves for a run out
Farmer’s direct hit run out
Whitear M’s big four, losing the ball in the trees to retire
Hamer’s catch from Terry’s first ball
Whitear J’s 2 overs bringing 0-3
The Blades CC 
Top work Ade, for the second week running a fantastic team effort – great evening
Hunter run out is a def chmapagne moment for me
And White Ears junior of course. Cracking effort.
Am absolutely loving “the red pill” by the way.