The Grand Old Man turned up an hour early to rake off cut grass and give us a better chance of playing the match. He also turned up a stump short, but it's amazing what you can do with a Swiss army knife and an old fencing post! With the pitch soft, safe and playable, Saqib won the toss and chose to field.

JK and Kris gave Paddy's a slow but steady start as Nagoya struggled to find a length. In due course, Kris skied a drive to cover and Tony Peake joined JK. JK took this as a cue to open his shoulders and, in a pattern for the day, swang and missed, swang and hit. Those that found the middle went hard and far. Those that didn't, didn't. One of those that didn't knocked back JK's off peg. JK didn't seem to release that this affected his status as a batsman, and had to be advised of the correct course of action - "You're out, mate! Get out of there." 

The score at drinks (58/2) didn't look promising. But Paddy's still had wickets in hand and new boy AAA came out swinging. Nagoya took it in turns to drop catches, but had a good laugh each time. Apart from the aggrieved bowlers, Atta and Shafeeq. Raja attempted a bizarre one-handed take from one of AAA's skied hoicks and ended up nursing a bruised shoulder. After two huge sixes onto the Ground Golf Ground, AAA ran himself out. Shafeeq bowled Alex first ball. Tony tried to get after the bowling, but gloved a short one from Imtiaz to the keeper when on 49. No Paddy Foley's team is complete without a Rana brother, and today it was Adnan's turn under the spotlight. He also took the agricultural route to the run market, but hit more often than missed to finish on ** not out, with poor Ricky down the other end begging for the strike but only facing one ball despite being in the middle for 4 overs.

A great post-drinks session from the Paddy's saw them almost triple their score to set a respectable 158/6.

Pick of the bowling was Imtiaz Ahmed ((6-0-1-21, with good efforts from Saqib Khan and Atta Ul Haq. Poor fielding accounted for 4 dropped catches, only one of which was difficult.

Saqib and Muhammad Tariq started confidently for Nagoya, but JK got one to grub through Saqib's defences. Raja Akram came to the crease in King Louie mode. He smacked some immense sixes that put AAmit Thakur's efforts in the shade. Amit Thakur was so impressed he palmed one of Raja's efforts that wasn't going to make it over the boundary. Muhammad Tariq gave good support, and these two seemed set to finish the match before drinks before Krishantha managed to swing one back into Muhammad Tariq. A wicket fell every few overs after that but every so often Raja would pick up a bowler and deposit him somewhere just east of Yaizu. Good bowling from Tony managed to slow the flow, but by the time the Paddy bowlers got right on top, Nagoya were almost home. Tony got four wickets in his last two overs, including Raja to a good reflex return catch and Shahzad Yusuf sharply taken behind the stumps. With Raja gone, Paddy's really tightened up, and three consecutive maidens gave them one last hope, but this was dispelled by Mian Muhaamad Ameen with, you'll never guess, a huge six over the bowler's head to end the match with three wickets in hand.

Raja (72 runs off 35 balls) rode his luck and shook off his shoulder injury in impressive style, but it could have been very different if Paddy F had managed to hang onto their chances. Welcome points for Nagoya, but even so, on this display, they'll have a hard time getting promotion out of the tougher of the Division 2 groups.

Defeat again for Paddy F, but it wasn't all dark skies and soggy feet. Individual and overall performances are improving, totals are rising, and that first KCL victory can only be a Shizuoka Clown away.

Special thanks to both teams for making the commitment and the effort, and turning a frigid Sunday into a fine day's cricket.
 

Man of the Match: Tony Peake (Paddy Foley's) - Cultured batting among the haymakers, and four late wickets, though not quite enough to swing the match.