WSL 2nd XI arrived at Goring looking to continue
the solid momentum gained in the previous week’s win.
All acknowledged it was a tough task as they took to
the field without a number of more recognised batsmen,
neither of the usual opening bowlers and perhaps most
worryingly of all, only 10 men, but nonetheless confidence
was high.
Skipper Matt ‘I live in Caversham
but will get to the ground via Pangbourne’ Connor tossed
the new ball to Mike ‘Full Toss’ Thompson and the Waltham
assault began. Both batsmen and bowlers were tentative
from the start. The Goring openers played and missed
with regularity, Thompson struggled to find his length
bowling down the hill, while at the other end Waz ‘The
Waltham Express’ Javed found both the upward and sideways
slope in the pitch detrimental to finding a consistent
off-stump line.
Thompson
was stubborn in his resistance to Chris ‘Hat-Trick Hero’
England’s advice to use the pitch and his well crafted
strategy paid dividends as both Goring opener’s succumbed
to well thought out (?!?) buffet balls. First Wincott
missed a straight full toss delivery to be given out
LBW - a decision to which he was incredulous and began
a long hard stare at the umpire who had ‘triggered’
him. Then Brownlee dollied a simple return catch to
the bowler and Goring were two down. Waltham though
were not exerting as much pressure on the batting side
as they would have hoped however, as the sharp fielding
of the previous week had given way to a number of sloppy
mistakes.
The bowlers slowly began to
find their rhythm and the ball began to swing. Javed
remained unrewarded despite some close calls, while
Thompson picked up the third wicket with a swinging
ball that caught the edge of McKenzie and was smartly
caught behind by the skipper.
With a steady fall of wickets the Waltham
fielding tightened up and slowly began to strangle the
batsmen for runs and the pressure built. With the final
ball of his spell Thompson picked up his fourth wicket,
clean bowling Tomlinson, and finishing with figures
of 4 for 18 off his 9 overs.
At 41 for 4, a double bowling change brought
Nathan ‘the Welsh Wizard’ Thomas and Chris ‘Miserly
Metronome’ England into the attack and run
rate continued to fall as England
proceeded to bowl 8 maidens in his 10 over spell. It
was ‘The Metronome’ who made the next breakthrough with
the Goring slope helping to take years off the veteran
and the ball fizzing through with good pace and bounce.
An outside edge on a rising ball saw the ball fly sharply
to third man where Colin ‘BGC’ Parker made a good catch
as the ball began to die on him.
When England bowled D. Normand shortly after
and Thomas came to the party with a cunning top-spinner
that stayed low Waltham were flying and hopeful of wrapping
up the Goring innings before they reached their first
batting point target of 75. (64 for 7)
Next came a moment that had all the Waltham
fielders staring in shock and surprise. As Mitchell
mis-timed a drive the ball looped up invitingly to cover
and to the surprise of all was confidently pouched by
Ziggy ‘Teflon’ Kiani. It was a magic, once in a life-time
experience that all that were there will cherish. (England
10-8-10-3)
The
Saints were to be thwarted however, as Hedge (32*) offered
a prolonged and stubborn resistance and after the returning
Javed bowled Ferry with a full, quick delivery it transpired
that the Goring No.11 was actually a useful batsman.
With the overs running out the final pair took some
chances and their free hitting found the boundary. They
put on a useful 23 for the final wicket before Javed
found the edge and Connor took the catch behind to wrap
up the innings for 101.
It was a solid performance to dismiss the
home team but a combination of sloppy fielding and a
few too many extras left the skipper hoping the 20-30
runs they had given away wouldn’t come back to haunt
the Saints.
The
Waltham response got off the brisk
start with Thomas (31) showing some flagrant disrespect
to some good Goring bowling. The ball was moving both
through the air and off the pitch and when Connor nibbled
at a ball nipping away from him to be caught behind
for 6. Thompson came and went quickly at 3 leaving England
to steady the ship with Thomas once more. When he fell
playing at a wide delivery to Hodges to leave Waltham
at 59 for 3 there were a few nervous moments in the
dressing room.
Fortunately
the middle order, which all too often has had all the
solidity of a mini-milk in the Sahara, met
the challenge head on with all making contributions
to the chase. Skipper Connor’s blood pressure would
have benefitted from losing fewer wickets in the chase
but in the end will be very pleased to secure another
win for the 2nds with only 10 men. |