Having won the toss and elected to bowl, captain Avi Kohli then got Cougars off the best possible start by removing Elliot Mackmin (a familiar face, having played for the Lynx last year!) first ball, with the ball just nudging the leg bail from the grooves. Conditions were not ideal with steady drizzle for the first 10 overs. Once again, we lacked discipline at keeping the ball off the ground and preventing it becoming slippery, which contributed to a painful 51 bowling extras. We rarely threatened the stumps and the 67 was added for the second wicket. Bowling discipline will definitely be on the menu for training! And although they had drier conditions later in the innings, the performances of Jack Starmer-Smith (three wickets for seven runs) and Ollie Jones (three wickets for six runs) were outstanding.

As ever, the batting order was partly predicated on giving batters who've not faced many balls across the season a chance to get some time at the crease, so it was pleasing that all five of the batters who faced up in this match took advantage of this opportunity, showing good concentration and application. Running between the wickets was much improved, putting pressure on the fielders and leading to a comedic all-run 4 in the final over. This brought the scores level with three balls to spare, but some tight bowling brought redemption for Elliot and saw the game tied. Shout out to Ollie who batted nicely for 27 retired not out.

Despite the disappointment of not being able to see the game home, it was a great learning experience, with perhaps the need to learn how to "move through the gears" the next step for our batting (though we largely kept with the required rate). The result was incidental - it was a great game to be part of, played again in a lovely spirit. Well done, all.