Waltham narrowly fail to beat Sulhampstead
but deservedly reap the rewards of a winning draw. Invited
to bat in overcast conditions on a pitch dampened by
interminable rain, openers Paul Ashton and Steve Farnon
toiled to repel the accurate seam attack of Philips
and Williams. However, the scoreboard ticked to the
batsman's diligent beat and 50 was posted before Farnon
fell to Williams for an obdurate 20.
Enter 'hop a long' Jackson for a rapid change in tempo.
Another productive partnership ensued as 61 runs were
quickly added before Jackson perished on 29. The arrival
of Paul Gearing saw another 30 runs plundered before
the skipper skied one to mid on in inimitable style.
And soon after Ashton was joined by Paul Harris, the
opener had his leg stump knocked back by the persistent
Mughal after scoring a well constructed 59.
It was now that Mughal got to work on Waltham's fragile
middle order, taking 4 quick wickets and finishing his
spell of 15 successive overs with fine figures of 6-60.
James Woolford's remarkable 6 over the mid wicket boundary
provided a welcome respite from the clattering stumps
However, Waltham's innings continued to flourish at
the other end with Harris clubbing a superb 51 not out
as a highly respectable total of 211-9 was posted.
Sulhampstead's reply got off to a sound start with openers
Seward and Mercer compiling 53 for the first wicket.
Enter Keith Lugthart who snapped up 2 quick wickets
in a probing spell. Skipper Gearing introduced himself
into the attack and claimed a further 3 wickets as the
visitor's target fell out of reach. Faisal Shah was
as ever accurate as wickets continued to steadily fall.
However, the middle order batsmen Strang with 30 and
Dove 29, prevailed for just long enough as their side
finished 50 runs short. Waltham, 2 wickets from completing
a win were nevertheless happy to settle for the winning
draw against good, competitive newcomers to the Berkshire
league. |