Waltham St Lawrence Sunday
XI took on Henley in the Oak Meadow sunshine and a fine
game it was.
Henley won a crucial toss and unsurprisingly elected
to bat on what looked a good pitch and scorching conditions.
Waltham however were undeterred by the conditions and
were soon into the action with opening bowlers Nebbett
and Raja in fine form ripping through the top order.
Only Neville and Woolhouse showed the application necessary
on the WSL pitch as the Waltham change bowlers struggled.
Wickets did however, continue to tumble as Gearing then
Christodoulou caused the Henley men to go aerial. The
score could have been even better for Waltham had a
number of straightforward chances not been squandered.
As it was, Henley's last two wickets put on thirty runs
and WSL were left to chase 162 in their innings.
The Waltham chase opened in sedate style against the
pace of Dennison and the guile of captain Gould. Owen
played a couple of excellent drives till he mistimed
a hook at was caught. Raja didn't trouble the scorers
and Rockell hung around for a plucky 9 but Waltham were
in the mire.
However, with Connor trying to keep things together
at the other end Kiani came to the crease and took off
from the previous day playing some sumptuous drives
and playing with good application till he misjudged
a full ball from Chapel and was bowled. England came
out to bat and it was evident from the outset that the
injury sustained in the field was going to hamper him.
Eventually he was stumped off Chapel for a courageous
13. The next wicket was going to be crucial as 1st XI
skipper Paul Gearing came to the crease but things went
wrong as Connor was out next ball bowled by a Satin
off break. Burge then joined Gearing and they set about
the task of knocking off the remaining 100 runs.
Gearing was driving with authority hitting the gaps
with purpose and power and he raced on to 23 till he
lofted to mid-on. Burge's resistance was ended when
he chopped on and the Waltham innings then crumbled
as Atkins and Christodoulou joined the gallery and Nebbett
was left stranded for a well made 0.
Congratulations to the Henley skipper and his team.
We look forward to next years fixture. |