Leaden skies with steady rain welcomed the Cooks to Kettering for this Division 11 clash. Overall 14 overs were lost before the rain relented enough for Kettering to win the toss and put the Cooks into bat in a game now reduced to 38 overs a side. The threatening clouds soon rolled in allowing just two overs to be bowled before the inevitable rain returned with a vengeance. Incessant rain meant an early tea, but as the teams chomped their way through the tea time selection chinks of blue sky appeared to the right of the pavilion. By the end of the thirty minute break, the rain had abated, and once the teams had removed the soggy cover, play was soon able to commence.
From the outset the Cooks top order struggled against a Kettering bowling attack, who were making the most out of the helpful conditions. Only skipper Ryan Knight (33) made any real batting contribution but once he was cleaned bowled by Harrison Coe, the writing was on the wall for the Cooks. When the last wicket fell at the end of the 26th over only 84 runs had been accrued, leaving Kettering a full 35 overs to chase this small target.
In reply Kettering soon lost a wicket, to introduce new batsman N.Bains, who soon showed that he was prepared to attack the bowling at every opportunity. This style of batting was a little risky and with Kettering less than halfway to their target Bains drove powerfully to Jack Quennell who did extremely well to parry the “exocet” fired straight at him, but just when the Cooks thought he had juggled the ball for the wicket, it was eventually spilled. This was the slice of luck Kettering needed and although the Cooks took 5 wickets, Bains with an unbeaten 35 ensured victory was achieved, helping keep Kettering in the promotion mix.
This was a disappointing defeat for the seconds where the batsman did not shine, thus leaving the bowling attack shorn of two holidaying strike bowlers with a difficult task, to defend such a small target.