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North v South at Westward Ho! Sunday May 15th

A superb start, Tom Mitcham hitting the 1st ball for 4. He went 2 balls later however and North were 4-1. Would this be a famous collapse? Not a bit of it. Barny Huxtable strode to the crease in his usual confident mood and he and Ieuan Davies then put on a slow but assured partnership of 69 in 17 overs. This was just what was needed to build a position of solidarity for the home side. Davies was second to go bowled by Parker for 11, a good knock in the circumstance. James Popplewell came to the crease with another partnership needed. He was in good form following his 27 v East the previous Sunday. He and Huxtable put on 44 in just 8 overs. They attacked the bowling and the bad ball was always put away. More importantly tho the South had lost their wicket keeper Chris Kelmere and this was to prove crucial to the innings as there were no obvious replacements. Gadie was the unlucky man to take the gloves and he was to struggle. Huxtable went to a tame dismissal in the 26th over for a well constructed 37, 117-3. Dominic Bracher was next up. He had looked a little nervous in the first 2 games of the competition but the manager knew what he was capable of and he was about to show everybody at the ground. He shared a stand of 39 in 19 mins with Popplewell, who went for another respectable 28 and then 25 in 13 mins with Roulstone, the latter of which he left behind after going LBW to Benton for a fine 36 off 42 balls. He had played with authority and power which pleased North manager Asa Wright no end. The North then lost their final 5 wickets for only 20 runs and the innings faded from 181-5 with 8 overs in hand to 201 all out in 38.5 overs. A good effort. 77 extras in their favour would prove crucial though.

South couldn't have made a worse start. Gadie who had been tormented behind the stumps in the North innings was run out for 2 from a direct hit by Tom Stone, the North's best fielder in the competition. He has hit the stumps with throws no fewer than 7 times in the matches and the teams percentage is 78%, a great statistic. DeFriend was next to go, caught behind off the bowling of James Roulstone for 4 by stand in glovesman Ali Clements. George Benton came to join Bryan in the middle. The pair batted excellently in a stand of 63 in 43 mins. Bryan was then bowled by Jason Head with a beautifully flighted delivery from the off-spinner. Parker was next up and he and Benton looked likely to forge another partnership. They made to mistake of hitting the ball to the run-out king Tom Stone who obliged by sending Parker on his way for 4. Benton looked a little fazed by what he had witnessed and was caught at slip by Roulstone off Ray Clarke's bowling to give him his 7th wicket in the competition so far. At 79-5 it would have been easy to stop being positive and not keep the game alive. Chris Kelmere was having none of it. The South captain batted with great power and courage and after losing Dan Clarke to another flighted Jason Head delivery for 1, he and Gordon Watton set about not only rebuilding from 86-6 but taking the South to victory. 

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