Gareth Johnson’s
second seventy of the weekend, and a fine all round
bowling performance, completed a pair of victories at
Oak Meadow for the weekend.
Stand in skipper Dan Owen and Waltham prodigy
Chris Sharpe opened the innings on an overcast afternoon,
and it wasn’t long before both were back in the pavilion
with few runs on the board. Thomas, batting 4, added
six runs before following the openers back in after
skying an attempted sweep shot to fine leg. The catcher
was later heard to comment “Have you been teasing him
more about the terrible shot, or being caught by a girl?”
Opening bowler Carter was replaced after 5 overs to
bring slow bowler Crosfield into the Old Leightonian
attack, and attack he did, constantly deceiving Everett
and Kiani with his subtle variations in pace (from very
slow to very very slow). Finally both batsmen lost their
concentration and also their stumps, leaving Waltham
on a precarious 32-5 with Thompson and Johnson at the
crease.
A fine, watchful partnership of 62 from these two pushed
the score to a much more respectable 94 until Thompson,
who had been looking in fine form, was bowled by Shingles
for 31. A brief appearance by Baker was followed by
a handy 18* from El Presidente, enabling Gareth to finish
on his second seventy of the weekend and push the WSL
score to 164 runs.
Jody Everett opened the bowling
for Waltham, and Mike Thompson, fielding at point, was
the recipient of many of the opening shots, culminating
in a sharp catch to dismiss the Leightonian opener.
Support was provided by Nath “caught by a girl” Thomas,
who successfully tied up an end to keep the run rate
down, as Everett took his second wicket of his opening
spell.
Smith came on to replace Thomas, and after serving up
some gift-wrapped deliveries for Acland-Hood to despatch,
was promptly taken off to be replaced by Thompson, while
David “The Metronome” Railton replaced Everett at the
other end. The third wicket partnership dominated proceedings
until Acland-Hood departed for a well worked 61 after
gloving an attempted sweep into the waiting gloves of
keeper-captain Owen, off the leg spin of Sharpe. Baker
came on to bowl from the opposite end, and had soon
sent G Carter back to the pavilion, before Sharpie’s
leggies sent another two batsmen back to the pavilion,
one offering an easy catch back to the bowler. Big hitting
E Carter came to the crease, and the Leightonian captain,
Price, soon made the mistake of trying to take one too
many runs off Gareth Johnson’s fielding in the deep,
and was dismissed courtesy of a long, flat throw.
Everett returned to dismiss Carter before the final
wicket partnership was broken by a second run out, leaving
Old Leightonians 8 runs short in the final over, and
Nath Thomas unrewarded for 7.3 incredibly stingy overs.
Many thanks to the Old Leightonians
for a very enjoyable game, and for plenty of ammunition
for banter in future weeks when Nath is playing. Sadly
the duck gallery must remain unaltered, so Colin Parker
will have to wait a week or two for his next entry. |