An heroic
effort by Andy Van Zyl, carrying his bat throughout
the Waltham innings, scoring 92 n.o., wasn’t quite enough
to secure victory against Hurst. The match ended in
a draw with ten man Waltham nine runs short of victory.
Returning skipper Paul Gearing, opted to put
Hurst into bat and his decision looked to have paid
off as Hurst were reduced to 52 for 4, Paul Harris doing
the damage with a pacy spell of 3-11. However, as the
ball softened and the demons in the wicket dispersed
so the Hurst middle order took advantage, especially
Higgs, whose well paced innings of 74 n.o, proved in
the long run to be a decisive factor.
Hurst were finally dismissed for 198 with van Zyl and
Harris being the chief wicket takers.
In reply, Waltham set off at a brisk pace
through openers van Zyl and Harris, until the latter
was dismissed by a well taken chance. Jody Everett joined
van Zyl and helped to push the score on to a healthy
70 for 1 and Waltham looked well poised.
But as so often is the case for Waltham, a mini collapse
slowed the momentum. Duck specialists Nebett and Owen
failed to trouble the scorers again! Skipper Gearing
picked up the pace with a useful 36 and Chris England
chipped in with 16 but the run rate was always just
beyond Waltham and the game ended in a commendable draw.
Having a full side could have easily turned the result
into a victory. |