In an epic
battle, it was Woodley who ultimately emerged from this
tense encounter with the win.
It had started well for the hosts, as their
opening pair batted with control and fluency to see
of the Waltham openers and in the process one of them
scored his 50 (with the other at the other end on 11).
As the weary Waltham bowlers toiled in the blustery
conditions with little help from the pitch it was Andrew
“I don’t do August” Jackson, who finally made the breakthrough
in his final league game of the season, bowling first
the opener and then taking two quick wickets either
side of drinks to make tilt the balance towards Waltham.
Woodley rebuilt and looked to be heading for
a big score before the introduction of Matt “But I’m
a second team player” Nebbit changed the complexion
of the game. In what is probably best described as “pick
and mix” bowling, with a bit of something for everyone
his 9-ball overs produced one or two unplayable balls
and finally a breakthrough wicket. Soon he and Paul
“But I’m the king of pick and mix bowling” Gearing began
ripping through the tail and finally Woodley were dismissed
for 178. A relatively achievable score given the recent
strength of the Waltham batting
line up……
…Then it was 7-3, as first Steve “I should
have left it alone” Farnon, edged one he definitely
should have left alone and both Andrew “I’m showing
Austin how not to bat” Jackson and Paul “Attack is the
best form of defence” scored with beautiful shots from
their first balls only to edge to the slips from their
second (the latter being caught with a phenomenal reaction
one-hander). As Waltham looked out of it, Chris “Can’t
catch a cold” Sharpe and Paul “Nothing bad as it’s my
match report” Harris battled to get the score up to
50 without further loss, Harris in particularly, playing
some of the worst cross-batted swipes ever to grace
the Faisal Nabahoo Berkshire League. At 56-3 both went
in quick succession to poor shots but any hope Woodley
had, seemed to evaporate as Ricky “18ft tall” Monon
and James “Falling out of love with the game” Woolford
both batted well and to Waltham to within sight of the
finish line.
Only 20 runs were needed with 5 wickets in
hand, I went out to umpire, 10 minutes later (through
no fault of mine may I add) Waltham were 10 runs away
with NINE wickets down and the unbeaten Monon, having
just passed 50, was joined by Matt “More drama than
the BBC” Nebbett. They managed seven runs before, with
echoes of Allan Donald and Lance Klusener,
they conspired to end the innings with a run out so
upsetting it was funny and Woodley were celebrating
a two run win.
On to Goring next week… can
we throw that away as well? |