A maiden half century from
Waltham St Lawrence's Nathan Thomas rescued his side
from a horrific start but could not prevent Farley Hill
from taking the spoils. Farley Hill won the toss and
put Waltham in on a pitch which had been a bowlers heaven
the previous day. WSL were soon in trouble as Owen hit
his first ball down the throat of Cox at Mid-on. Worse
was to follow as the second full toss dished up by Potts
took care of Woolford as he was bowled. Harris quickly
followed then Sharpe, Connor and Toy all lost concentration
on a difficult pitch.
At 32 - 6 WSL were staring down the barrel but Thomas
accompanied by skipper Burge began to rebuild the innings.
Thomas was vicous on any poor deliveries and drove imperiously
as he smashed the wilting Farley attack to all parts
of Oak meadow on his way to an excellent 50. Burge at
the other end played the perfect foil, constantly rotating
the strike and manoeuvring the ball into the gaps to
keep the scoreboard ticking.
Thomas eventually holed out bringing John Rimmer to
the crease for his first Waltham appearance. His stay
was a short one as he was stumped off the bowling of
Streak. Shortly after the innings came to an end for
a respectable 129.
Farley's innings started much as Waltham's had done
with wickets tumbling, the impressive Harris having
Blake caught by Brown and then cleaning up Butler. The
obdurate Cox hung around till Rimmer tested his box
with a brut of a delivery then bowling him soon after.
Waltham were well on top and Burge's bowling change
worked a treat as Brown picked up Butler with Rimmer
taking a smart catch. Waltham needed to keep on taking
wickets but the Farley pair of Streak and Potts kept
them well at bay with Streak playing very sensibly and
Potts riding his luck as the pair put on good runs for
the fifth wicket.
Waltham threw everything at them including a series
of delectable pies served up by the generous Connor
who for the second game running bowled like a drain.
Although Burge had Potts well caught at Gulley by Smith
and Rimmer ripped through Beddon's defence the game
was sealed with 6 overs to spare.
Waltham St Lawrence CC would like to thank Farley Hill
for an excellent game played in great spirit. |