An excellent all round effort
from WSL's Shahid Rasool was not enough to prevent a
crushing defeat against a good Holyport side. On a glorious
sunny day the visitors won the toss and elected to bat
first. Both openers started cautiously but it was Shahid
in his second over who got the breakthrough dismissing
Herzog LBW. This brought Osinski to the crease and together
with captain Steel helped the score beyond 100 until
Steel smashed Woolford to Jones at Point who held a
smart catch.
This was the breakthrough that WSL needed and Rasool
returning from the Pavilion end took three wickets in
quick succession to change the face of the innings.
He was well supported by Dave Jones who bowled four
tidy overs picking up 2 wickets and the luckless Brown
who bowled an excellent line and length. At the break
Connor was happy to have restricted the visitors to
187 but on a pitch offering variable bounce the innings
got off to a disastrous start as Connor and Kiani fell
in the first two overs to the impressive Varney.
However, Woolford led the WSL revival hitting some wonderful
strokeplay until he was undone by Varney again as he
edged behind. Another mini collapse ensued until Rasool
together with Thompson regathered some momentum but
as both fell in quick succession the innings came to
a tame end with Jheeta and Gould both finishing with
3 wickets a piece. Captain Connor was understandably
disappointed with the result but same some positive
points in the defeat.
Congratulations to Holyport and their captian Andrew
Steele. Good luck for the season. |