First-game nerves seemed to get the better of a young Balderton side as their middle order collapsed in the batting against Cavaliers and Carrington Cricket Club in the Nottinghamshire Premier League Division Two season-opening fixture.
Balderton won the toss and newly appointed captain Ryan Charlesworth elected to field, confident in the ability of his bowlers to keep the visitors to a low score.
The bowlers delivered on their captain’s mission as they kept Carrington to only 139, which was seen as an achievable goal for their batsmen.
The captain’s brother, Aaron was best with the ball as he took four wickets for 26 runs after returning from another stint in Australia.
Vice-captain Daniel Pinfold contributed with two scalps for 29 runs while Scott Barnsdale, Alex Dickinson on debut, Morgan Mullen and the captain picked up a wicket each.
Balderton looked to have the game in the bag before they retook to the field for their turn to bat.
Aaron Charlesworth opened the batting with his brother and was dismissed in the third over for two runs after being caught and bowled by Huzayl Bhutta.
Sri Lankan cricketer Shalith Fernando fell a few overs later as he was dismissed for five runs thanks to a catch off the bowling of Mateen Teli.
Teli then went through Balderton’s middle order in devastatingly fast fashion as he took Daniel Pinfold, Morgan Mullen and James Gilbertson all for zero.
Farhan Ahmed took recent signing Chale Neshaharan for another duck before dismissing top-scoring captain Ryan Charlesworth for 26.
The tail batsmen then fell for a combined total of 14 to see Balderton bowled out for 70.
Balderton will be hoping to bounce back quick as they travel to Clipstone on Saturday for their next match (the game will start at 11.30am).
