Washout For 1st XI At Wootton

With rain and thunderstorm forecast for late afternoon, Richard Walker decided to bowl first on what was a batsmans paradise, small boundary one side and a flat wicket, but with overcast clouds, there was something for the bowlers in the conditions. Dan Farrant opens from up the hill and hit his rhythm early on, beating the bat regularly with the batsman spongy scoring his runs through the gully and slips after edges full short of the fielders. Sam Rodway opened from down the hill as Steve Litten was running late from work, Rodway bowled well with the ball swinging and made the breakthrough after a brilliant catch by Waseem Azad at gully. Farrant took the next wicket after the batsman edged through to wicketkeeper Richard Walker. In such an important game, tensions were high after the batsman decided not to walk after a clear edge and angry word were exchanged between both sets of players. With the game in the balance, Wootton had a big partnership as both new batsmen batted sensibly giving no chances to Kidlington, but as Farrant and Rodway both bowled tightly the runs came slowly. Roadway was replaced by Steve Litten, who bowled with pace but with anything short, came a boundary. Farrant bowled out just after drinks, as Edd Willmot came on. Willmot bowled well, but struggled with with his consistency and anything slightly short was an easy hit to the short leg side boundary. Litten came off for Waseem Azad who started well and took his sole wicket with an LBW which looked to be going on to miss leg stump but the inconsistent umpiring of recent weeks continued, this time in Kidlingtons favour. With Wootton on 130/3 with only 14 overs remaining in their innings, wickets in hand became vital as all incoming batsmen played their shots early on looking to score quick runs. The next wicket fell to a brilliant piece of fielding from Steve Litten as he threw down one stump from square leg as Wootton accelerate the score. Litten came on for Azad, and Rodway for Willmot and both bowled good balls but also boundaries came regularly as the batsmen jumped on anything too short or over pitched. Rodway was replaced by Andy Oliver, as Litten took his only wicket with a good length ball that hit the top of offstump. Oliver then took his first wicket of the season for KCC after a good catch by Chris East at extra cover. After a few more boundaries Wootton finished their innings on 225/6, but on a good batting wicket, KCC were confident that they could chase down the total.

After a good tea, Andy Oliver and Richard Walker began Kidlingtons run chase well, putting on 40 for the first wicket with both striking the boundaries through midwicket and down the ground, before Walker was caught at gully after top edging an attempted pull shot. Oliver was joined by Jack Desmond and both looked in good touch finding the boundary regularly as the score moved to 79 in the 16th over. With Kidlington going along nicely with the required run rate before the heavens opened. With a good 20 minutes of heavy rain, the umpires decided to abandon the game just as the rain stopped, a decision which angered both teams with both feeling the could go on to win. With the game abandoned, there was nothing either captain could do to change the Umpires mind as the team were awarded only bonus points.

A good game ruined by the weather and yet more questionable umpiring, good luck to Wootton, a good bunch of lads and we shall see you at Stratfield Brake on the last day of our season!