Marcham hammering gets firsts back to winning ways

On a cloudy and humid day at our home ground, Edd Willmot won the toss and put Marcham in to bat on a wicket that looked better than the previous week. With the injured Thwaites advised to rest, Aman Kalyan took over new ball duties with Kamran Ramzan in his first match for the 1sts! He seemed unfazed by the step up and continued to deliver his usual skiddy balls. Kamran was a little loose in his first 3 overs while he was still finding his rhythm but Aman got his first wicket in his second over, a ball down the leg side was superbly collected by Ben Bollig who had the presence of mind to knock off the bails and have Warwick out stumped! A second was almost in his grasp but slipped out of Richard's to give Armstrong an opportunity. With a partnership forming, Kamran was bowling in full flow now and after a ball that nearly had Davie's off stump pegged back, he removed him with a searing yorker. Kalyan nicely finished his permitted 6 over spell, A very impressive one for a first match in this division. Michael Tippett replaced him and Edd Willmot took over from Kamran an over later. They both bowled well with Edd having the batsmen in a tangle on multiple occasions. Yendole's uninspiring stay finished with a successful LBW appeal from Edd while Armstrong was still being given opportunities, some drop catches and some just left to land in front. The wicket brought the agressive power hitter Mooring to the crease who pumped many sixes straight down the ground against us last year. We had them in a position where 1 wicket could quickly bring many more, so we felt on top. It wasn't all too merry though as Mooring had a catch dropped, which could prove to be very costly. Some overs later, Armstrong's overextended stay at the crease was finally ended with a catch! This was the breakthrough we wanted and 2 balls later Edd had another with his second LBW. Michael Tippett now followed the double wicket maiden with Mooring stumped off the first ball of the over thanks to an incredibly sharp bit of glovework by Ben Bollig for a second stumping. The second ball of the over was another good delivery and yet another stumping! Ben was behind the stumps eagle eyed and straight away the bails were flicked off! We were well and truly on top now with 4 wickets in the last 6 balls for 0 runs. Barrett and Barnes had a bit of a partnership building and then Tippett removed the former after trapping him in front in his final over. An over later Edd also finished a great spell and it was now time for the openers to return. Aman began his second over with a half tracker that he later said "thought was going for 6" but looped to Andy at mid on to have Marcham 9 down. On the last ball of the same over he bowled a ball slightly similar to the first, going straight to Sam Rodway to end the Marcham innings on 152. A very big congratulations to Aman for finishing with 3 wickets and ending the innings with a double wicket maiden! In the last few overs it was drizzling so the covers were put on as we went in for tea.

A delicious tea was loved by everyone and with it still raining outside, the break was lengthened. It went on for longer than anticipated and overs were starting to be cut. Thankfully it stopped and after putting down some sawdust and removing some water from the runups, we were ready to go. The reduced target was 138 off 39 overs and we were very confident. Richard Walker and Sahil Kalyan back together at the top of the innings with Armstrong and Mooring opening the bowling. It didn't take long for Rich to get the ball rolling with 4 consecutive boundaries tonked in the second over. It already felt like Richard was in the mood to go big today, meaning we were in for a treat! Even after some changes in the bowling, the Marcham players didn't learn from their mistakes, repeatedly bowling in the slot and repeatedly being pummeled to the rope. With Sahil batting confidently too, we were racing along and the team 50 came up in the 8th over. The platform was set but they carried on at a good pace, reaching 80 after 15. With only 3 needed for his half century, Walker was adjudged LBW and had to make his way back but the job was mostly done. Then Sahil was caught and he went for 34 to bring in Andy Oliver. Craig Woods still looked out of touch and went for another duck to spin, now we were a bit nervous again with 3 wickets having fallen for 3 runs. With one partnership we would hopefully avoid the situation of the previous week and Sam Rodway joined Andy and runs were ticking by. A few boundaries were hit and the nerves were eased as we neared the target. Spinner Davie then caught Rodway off his own bowling, the umpire would have been toppled had he not grabbed this. Jamie Stothard came out and made his intentions clear, taking the charge to the bowling with some not so eye-catching but effective shots. Only 7 were needed to win when he was caught going for another but Andy saw us home with Ben Bollig, who hit a four to win us the game. A comfortable win in the end with 5 wickets and 9 overs left, and we bounced back nicely from last week.