In the uncharacteristic
April sunshine, Waltham 1st XI had
their customary opening friendly fixture against Holyport
and for periods of the game gave a good account of themselves.
Without some key players and with several new players
making their first appearance for the club, a defeat
by 25 runs was no disgrace although it was frustrating
to lose after being in such a strong position.
Holyport opted to bat and their openers quickly
came to terms with the low bounce and kept out the opening
Waltham bowling attack of Rasool and Arif. It was not
until Naveed Raja came on and not only picked the wicket
of the dangerous Khan but also steadied the flow of
runs that Waltham slowly fought their way back into
the game. Mark Fowler (64) provided the backbone of
the Holyport innings but Waltham skipper, Chris England
made inroads into their middle order with three wickets.
The home side finished their allotted overs
on 204 for 6.In reply, Waltham made a good start with the
new opening pairing of Paul Harris(24) and Andy Van
Zyl (36) adding 41 before the former edged on to his
stumps. The Waltham top order batted sensibly, Gareth
Johnson (55) and Jody Everett (30) took the visitors
to a match winning position of 143 for 3.
Sadly this was the height of Waltham’s batting achievements
as the final six wickets fell for a meagre thirty runs.The match
proved a good work out with some promising performances
which hopefully auger well for the season ahead. |