Winners are grinners

Well unless you were on another planet or had stopped following me on Twitter and unfriended me on Facebook, I think that you know what this picture is all about.

But lets start at the beginning,

I got up at stupid o'clock and packed up all the food and necessaries for the match, Mr Funky the chauffeur tipped up just before 9am and off we toddled to The Riverside ground. Toddle was the operative word just after Croxdale. Traffic ground to a halt and we sat and sat, and why???? because a roundabout is being put in. Work started in March and is showing little sign of being finished soon.



Anyhooo after that we got to the car park in record time and were in our seats before we knew it, well we were in someone else's seats, but we just moved along a few seats to where we should have been. A little mistake, but the man involved was very close to having a knuckle sandwich for his breakfast.!!!!!

The weather was grey and overcast and with some precipitation prior to the start bell, meaning that we were a bit delayed.

New Zealia went into bat and Captain Baz was in and out before I had a chance to eat a 'party ring'!!!

They settled down after that and it was not until  Kane Williamson had  hit his half century that his wicket fell.
We had some light rain but nothing to make them come off the field.

They batted through their 50 overs and finished 283-9. With last minute call in Jonny Bairstow showing that he was a good choice with the gloves.

I had a special delivery of sushi from Alan and we all had a chat before he raced back to his seat on the other side of the ground with Janey. ( who also came over to see us during rain breaks)

They came off for 'lunch/break' and the heavens opened and continued to do so on and off for over two hours.

Mr Funky the chauffeur and I amused ourselves by taking selfies some of which were a tad 'risqué' due to the angle of the phone and the cut of my top!!!

Eventually the sun came out, the sky turned blue and everyone was basking in late afternoon heat.
So England came out to take their reduced innings. they were set a target of 192 from 26 overs according to Jack and Vera Duckworth ( Duckworth/ Lewis).

And OMG, it all went horribly wrong  Roy, Hales Root and Morgan ( yes the top order) were all out in the blink of an eye.
I turned to MR Funky and said
' OK Stokes and Bairstow have to do this. Stokes will either wrack up a great total or be out cheaply which will leave it to Bairstow'

And yes indeedy doody, Stokes was out for 17 and Jonny took over.

We had a bit of hilarity as David Willey came in, when some gentlemen behind me took to singing
'If you like a bit of Willey clap your hands'......................well I never............................

He hit 7 and then Adil Rashid came in .

By this point Jonny was putting on the  runs and really just needed to avoid being out.
With an unbeaten 83, he did it. And as I always say no one man is a team, but 48 hours previous he had no idea that he would be hitting the winning shot for England and steering them to an ODI series win.

Yes he is a Tyke and as such one of 'my boys', however he proved to be a top keeper and batsman.

Well done England and well done Jonny Bairstow.

And now I am going to do some washing, go to Homebase, and then settle down to watch my Tykes doing T20 stuff this afternoon.

Have a great Sunday