Compton House 16/08/16

On a glorious evening at Compton House, the Wanderers duly elected to bat having won an important toss.  Bob (1) was struggling to get the ball away and only a large number of no-balls (2 runs each due to fading light) kept the rate going.  Simon came in to join Will Shardlow and set about creating a lasting partnership.  This was especially important with Anwaar failing to change his on-call for the evening.  The runs soon started to flow with boundaries coming regularly.  Bob astutely pointed out that the 14th over was going to be key.  Simon (69) was taking on the spinner with the short leg-side boundary.  When Wizzo (the retired home skipper) arrived he saw the ball bounce next to his car and realised it must be Simon!  With 2 sixes in the first 2 balls it was going well, but then the next ball found deep square leg who took a great catch into the sunshine. Will (39), Joe (10 on debut) and Thomas (15no) struggled to dominate the bowling and the total of 144-5 was reasonable but 170 would have been a good total.

Will Foster (1-14) opened the bowling and with 5 dot balls in the first over looked tricky.  Mark struck in his first over with Will getting a wicket next over when Thomas held onto a catch.  Thomas struggled for his line and length down the hill so Will S came on to tighten things up.  Unfortunately Mark bowled a loose over for his last one which ruined his figures (1-36) and put Compton House in the driving seat.  David came on to bowl in tandem with Will and struck with his first ball when the batsman played a reverse sweep to a full length ball on middle stump – only for him to miss it and hit his pad in front!  Although David (1-26) and Will (0-23) bowled well, one boundary an over with a few singles was enough to keep Compton ahead of the asking rate.  Joe was to bowl the last 3 overs down the hill and his first over went for just 1 run!  As the light started to fade with the setting sun disappearing over the horizon, the tension increased when a great run out from Will S with an underarm throw brought a new batsman to the crease.  In the end, only 4 was wanted from the last over, scored on the first ball.

MOM: Simon

Catch of the day: Thomas