Bride Vale 04/09/16

With a very green and spongy pitch and a bright end to the day forecast, losing the toss and fielding might suit the Wanderers.  With 12 in the squad, Pete joined Bride Vale for the day, relishing the chance to bowl out a few of his team mates!  Mark was into his rhythm from the start; the second ball he bowled pitched on middle and swung strongly to off beating the outside edge.  The next ball was of similar quality, only this time it took the edge and Simon provided the catch.  His figure (5-2-4-2) demonstrate just how good a bowler Mark has matured into.  Thomas (5-2-13-2), at the other end, was bowling just as well with some late in-swing causing difficulties for the batsmen.  He accounted for the Bride Vale captain who was in attacking mood.  A slog to mid-wicket found Ollie who held onto a great catch using all of his body!  The joint analysis from the opening bowlers (10-4-17-4) showed just how dominant they were and did not provide any easy scoring opportunities.  Ollie and Bob came onto bowl and the intensity remained despite the drop in pace.  Ollie was turning the ball in all sorts of directions and was backed up by some excellent fielding.  Over two spells, he took 8.2-5-8-2 including the wicket of Pete after he had dispatched Bob to the boundary!  Bob missed out on a wicket but Ravi came on and used good all round variation in his spell 7-5-3-1 which included the wicket of Cliff who looked to be in stubborn form before edging behind to Simon and sportingly walking with the umpire not sure.  David had a long bowl in humid conditions but was causing difficulty and on another day would have had more victims than his 2.  Howard had a bowl without success but the innings was dominated by the Wanderers bowlers who performed superbly.  Despite bowling over 47 overs, the innings finished early and tea was taken.

Anwaar was in no mood to hang around for too long scoring a quick 15 before being caught out in spectacular style one handed!  Mike Moore (7) was bowled when he picked the wrong one to attack!  Meanwhile, Ollie was quietly getting on with playing the good balls well and scoring runs when they were available.  When Thomas (7) was caught, Mark came in to play a resourceful innings.  Ollie (14) was eventually caught and bowled which brought in Mike Henry (2).  When Pete came on to bowl, Mark (33no) and Ravi (5no) took him on and Mark finished the match with a straight 6.  It was a shame that the weather forecast was so inaccurate as most of the Wanderers innings was played out in drizzle instead of the scheduled warm sunshine!  A good game and a good win for the Wanderers.

MOM: Mark – an all-rounder’s performance

Catch of the day: Ollie