The Waltham
St Lawrence first eleven arrived on a warm but blustery
day at Stratfield Turgis hoping to build on their victory
over Checkendon last week. After Harris incurred another
fine, he went to do the toss, and the result was that
Waltham were to bat. So he and Johnson took to the middle,
looking to take advantage of the very small boundaries
on all sides.
After a painfully slow start in which Waltham
were racing along at almost 2 runs an over, Harris begun
to find his touch with some punishing boundaries, whilst
Johnson at the other end was playing nicely, being the
anchor of the partnership. Now the score was starting
to tick over nicely and the run rate was also improving,
aided with dropped catches from the Stratfield fielders,
Harris moved to 50. A small stoppage then had to be
made when one of the Stratfield fielders nastily injured
his finger, resulting in him being taken hospital. With
Harris trying to lose as many balls as possible with
his huge sixes down the ground and over the short square
boundaries, and Johnson still playing watchfully at
the other end, the 100 partnership was brought up.
The partnership was then broken,
when Johnson fell with the score on 131, for a fine
29, which brought Sharpe to the crease. Not long after,
Harris raced to his hundred, scoring at more than a
run a ball, his second of the season. Harris continued
to punish the bowling to all parts, dismissing any over
pitched or short deliveries that were served up to him,
bringing up the Waltham 150. With Sharpe and Harris
looking to give Waltham a big total, Harris fell for
118, a magnificent innings, giving Waltham the platform
they needed.
It was then Gearing who joined
Sharpe in the middle, who was playing a few nicely timed
shots, and was looking to push the run rate up. Gearing
was looking in imperious form as ever until he departed
for 11, bringing Shiny to the crease. Shiny was struggling
to find his touch but still added vital runs to the
Waltham total. Now McGee had entered the fray, but not
for long, as he fell to a contentious LBW decision for
nought. A flurry of Waltham wickets then led to the
dismissal of Sharpe, loosely driving and being caught
on the point boundary. With the innings in danger of
imploding, Owen provided a cameo late on and coupled
with some lust hitting by Aldred at the end, Waltham
ended up with a very competitive total of 230.
When Waltham came out to bowl
they knew they had to bowl and good line and length
and Gearing provided just this. But Ghulam at the other
end was struggling to do the same, bowling short of
a length and being punished to the boundary. He was
soon removed from the attack, and the Hero of the hour
Harris was brought on. With Sharpe still dropping every
opportunity that came his way, the first wicket of the
Stratfield Turgis innings fell, with the score on 50,
taken by Gearing. After this the Waltham bowlers toiled
to no avail, as the two Stratfield Batsmen moved the
score along at a steady rate, keeping wickets in hand
for a final assault later in the innings.
The score had progressed to
147 before the next wicket fell, this time to Harris.
He had Wright, fresh from his five-for in the first
innings, caught well by Johnson in the gully, for 38.
Waltham now looked on top and a steady flow of wickets
restricted the run rate, leaving the game evenly balanced.
After Clarke had been removed by Lugthart for an aggressive
83, there was not much resistance from the lower order.
Lugthart then picked up 2 further wickets, including
the dangerous Spence, along with Harris, who took another
well deserved scalp. This then left a tense finish with
Stratfield resorting to blocking out the remaining overs,
which they successfully achieved, in the howling winds
and the impending darkness. Stratfield finished on 208
for 6 off their 45 overs, and Waltham gained a hard
fought winning draw. Waltham were in debt to a fantastic
performance by Paul Harris, and the team will need to
put in another good performance next week when they
entertain Hawley. |