Fonthill Park 17/06/18

On a rather cold day at Fonthill, Simon elected to bat first.  The procession of batsmen going in and out rather quickly was alarming! David (4) and Mike W (4) both went LBW and Tommy (8) was caught at gulley.  Simon (5) got an in-swinging shooter to take leg stump and Tim (7) was looking good on his return to the side before he too was bowled.  Will F (4) hit a cracking boundary to get off the mark before he was stumped.  At 37-6 the Wanderers were in danger of not setting a reasonable target.  Mike J and Zee restored some order with a combination of good singles to keep the scoreboard moving and some aggressive batting, especially from Mike who hit a long six down towards the pavilion amongst other boundaries in a fine knock of 43.  The partnership was worth 57 when he got one that kept deceptively low.  Mike H (4), PW (2) and Paul (8) were all bowled in the closing stages to leave Zee not out on 26.  Extras was comfortably the next highest on 21!

After tea the Wanderers attack struggled to cope with finding a good length.  Zee went for 20 in his opening over and Mike couldn’t create the pressure he did so well last time out.  Will F was a bit short and it was David who provided the best length.  At 80-3 chasing just 134 the game appeared to be slipping away and then Paul was hit for 2 big sixes before bowling his man with a sublime delivery. This was soon to be followed by 2 superb run out dismissals, Tommy chasing a bye and throwing over the bails from distance for one of them!  With Tommy joining the attack and getting a smart catch from Mike J to kick start his account, the impossible was looking more of a possibility.  Tommy (3-22) took 2 more to leave the hosts on 115-8 with 5 overs to go.  With 12 needed off the last 3 overs it was becoming tense and every run was important.  A great 4 driven to cow-corner off Mike J followed by a 2 created a difficult over for Tommy, who unfortunately was clattered for 2 fours to bring about a 2 wicket win for Fonthill with 6 balls to spare.

MOM: Mike – rescuing the batting

Catch of the day: Mike J – the only one (forgetting the earlier sharp drop at slip!)

Quote of the day: Opposition player says to David while umpiring: “I’m glad we’ve got someone umpiring who knows what he’s doing”.