Ed makes
the ton at last
Captain Cudders looks unnecessarily worried
as
Cuddington leave a target of 212 to be made after tea.
Last week produced another fine home win against our old friends from
Cuddington. We were without Alex or Ashley but welcomed back Matt H.
and Robin L. I duly won the toss and elected to field!
We began brightly with Matt H. bowling Jerry Broers with a fast full
toss in the first over. Robin L. shared the new ball although his opening
over produced 4 wides as his ability to swing the ball spiralled out
of control! The visitors produced a brisk scoring rate, before Robin
took 2 quick wickets, and suddenly the visitors were struggling at 39-3.
That brought together Marcel Colombage and Mike Pearmain, who was eager
to prove himself against us. We came in for a barrage of hitting, as
Mike began to get 'stuck in' to decent bowling, and was particularly
harsh on Matt H. and Edgar. A quickfire stand of 124 was finally broken
by Jerry W. when Edgar took a smart diving catch at square leg to dismiss
Marcel for 36. Mike P. continued in ominous form however until Jerry
W. finally captured him as H. took a smart catch behind the stumps.
A destructive 74, illustrated Mike's capabilities, but after his departure
we regained control. Toby and myself relieved the spinners, and kept
it tight with the writer picking up 2 wickets. Nick W. ended the innings
with an encouraging 4 over spell, as he and Toby shared the last couple
of wickets between them, with Cuddington finishing on 211 all-out just
before tea. Bowling figures were: Matt H. 6-1-49-1, Robin L. 6-2-25-2,
Jerry W. 10-4-39-3, Edgar F. 6-1-44-0, Toby C. 5.2-2-14-1, Nick W. 4-1-16-1,
and myself 5-1-13-2. In the absence of Rob S.,
Robin L. once again filled in as opener with Edgar. However a tremendous catch at square leg brought a premature end to his innings on 9, and we were 16-1. Jerry W. joined Ed at the crease, and they produced another solid partnership of 88 before Jerry W. was bowled for 34. I decided to send Doug M. in to try and ensure the required rate did not surpass 6 an over, and he produced another positive performance with some destructive hitting, reaching 49 n.o. at the end. Doug and Ed, compiled a stand of 113 from just 14 overs and we coasted to victory with 8 wkts and 6 overs to spare with Ed reaching his first century for us just before the end finishing with 102 n.o. In truth we only had one other real batter to come in Nick W., but once again the top order did us proud. This victory provided us with our 8th victory of the season, accompanied by a very satisfying team effort.