Ist XI: Usual Winning Ways

...And still heavyweight champeen...

Dave Maynard's Report

The Denham road show headed off to White Waltham where stand-in skipper Paul Hazell won the toss and elected to field on good batting strip with some damp patches.

The decision paid dividends when Jack Grover removed D. Allen for 10 with Maynard taking a good low catch, then Usman Khan had Hensman caught at slip for 1 and White Waltham were 32-2, but their other opener Pugh was smashing the ball to all parts of the ground with some excellent shots and they raced on to 112.

Skipper Hazell turned to Russell Bowry for some spin and then came the champagne moment of the game when Pugh smashed back to Bowry who took an excellent low catch to his left and Denham had removed the danger man for 69. Bowry then went on to take another couple of wickets, showing his best form with the ball.

Jamil Shaikh wasn’t to be undone; he bowled very well and took 2 quick wickets leaving White Waltham reeling on the ropes at 132-7.

White Waltham held out for a while before Ambrose Treacy came on to wrap up the tail with 3 wickets and White Waltham were bowled out for 178.

Denham began the run chase with Khan and Tobin. Khan began to take the attack to Waltham bowlers in scoring a quick 30 before he was run out, while Tobin fell shortly afterwards for 19.

It was a good start, but it was followed by the partnership of the match with Paul Hazell 65 and Russell Bowry 30, both playing some elegant cut shots and cover drives. They had pushed the score on to 136 before Hazell was bowled, then Bowry was caught at cover the score now being 149.

Were Denham beginning to wobble in the gloomy light? Certainly not. In came Dave Hales 10 not out and Dave Maynard 18 not out who finished off the run chase and Denham won the game by 6 wickets.

Notable performances of the day Jamil Shaikh 2-16 off 9 overs, Ambrose Treacy 3-12 off 6.2 overs , Russell Bowry 3-24 off 12 overs, Paul Hazell 65 , Usman Khan 30, Russell Bowry 30 and lastly the excellent fielding from Joe O’Hara who again showed that he is a great asset to the side.

White Waltham 6 pts Denham 20 points. Denham are now 26 points ahead of Great Kingshill, with Littlewick Green a further 3 behind.

WHITE WALTHAM INNINGS
D.ALLEN CT. MAYNARD B. GROVER 10
G.PUGH CT AND BOWLED BOWRY 69
M.HENSMAN CT. TREACY B. KHAN 1
D.CLARKSON CT. MAYNARD B. SHAIKH 6
B.LOVERTY B. SHAIKH 18
A.ELLIOTT LBW B. BOWRY 15
D.GRIFFITH B. BOWRY 0
C.WHITE B. TREACY 17
R.WEST B. TREACY 20
L.BEARD CT. MAYNARD B. TREACY 2
M.HAINES NOT OUT 3
TOTAL 178 ALL OUT OFF 51.2 OVERS

BOWLING Overs Maidens Runs Wkts E/Rate Avge F.MAHMOOD 8 0 43 0 5.37, J.GROVER 6 0 37 1 37 36 6.16, U.KHAN 10 2 40 1 40 60 4.00, J.SHAIKH 9 5 16 2 8 27 3.20, R.BOWRY 12 5 24 3 8 24 2.00, A.TREACY 6.2 1 12 3 4 12.6 1.93

DENHAM
C.TOBIN CT. B. HAINES 19
U.KHAN RUN OUT 30
P.HAZELL B. WHITE 65
R.BOWRY CT. B. WHITE 30
D.HALES NOT OUT 10
D.MAYNARD NOT OUT 18
TOTAL 179-4 OFF 42 OVERS

BOWLING Overs Maidens Runs Wkts E/Rate Avge Not given

2nd XI :

Thrashing Wargrave

Skipper Payne's Report

Return to normal conditions! Wargrave won the toss, and inserted us on a wet, sticky wicket.

Despite the loss of Dalton, Rai and Payne leaving us on 30 for 3, a partnership of 84 between Lee Webber on his return from foreign climes, and batting prodigy J.K. Bhagodia, 54.

Then Lee with help from Akhil Saberwal with 32, and Richie Brathwaite with 17 not out, completed his 100 n.o., and saw us through to 241 for 5 off 50 overs.

The Wargrave innings started ominously, with the first ball offered to Mr. Dalton for a sharp catch at silly mid on, only to find it laying on the turf. Nevertheless, Richie " I've got glue on my hands" Brathwaite grasped his first catch of the day at slip to remove opener Morton for a duck off Jeff Simpson.

However, this was our only success with the ploy of opening with the old ball.

Taking the new ball after 10 overs, Akhil Saberwal, after his buffet bowling of last week, suddenly started to run through the batting with 3 for off 32

He was admirably backed up by Lee Webber with 2 for 24, and Gerald O'Hara with 2 for 18.

Wargrave were still proving difficult to finish off. 4 fine slip catches by Richie left Wargrave's last pair, Bell and Baigent at the crease.

With Belly playing only balls on the stumps with a straight bat, Gurp Gharkal was brought back to try to induce and error.

At last, with only 2 overs and 2 balls left, the tension led to Baigent trying to hit the ball out of the ground.

With only Lee Webber deep in the outfield at long on, the ball was flying to wide long off. Running at full speed, the odds were on the ball reaching the boundary untouched, however, picking up pace, Lee stuck out a hopeful hand, and to the surprise of many, the ball lodged in his grasp, to complete a magnificent return.

A 30- point haul keeps us in the hunt, with a fixture next Saturday against Braywood, who are 2 points ahead of us in 2nd. Place; it's all to play for.

Sunday XI 26th June:

Knotty Green Tied in Knots by Denham

Alan Coulson's Report

A weakened Denham side were put in to bat by Knotty Green on Sunday, responding with a respectable score of 221.

Useful early runs were scored by Bobby Rai (25) and skipper Russell Bowry (41), followed by a stand of 59 for the fifth wicket featuring Dan Kugler (52) and the returning Olly Bareham (35).

Knotty Green. were soon under pressure from the opening attack of Jack Grover and Gerald O'Hara, both of whom moved the ball prodigously and both claimed two wickets.

Several bowlers were used to prise out the Knotty Green batsmen, the most successful being Harish Bhatt with three wickets.

His mystifying appeals and enthusiastic comments like "let's hit the woods" inspired the normally shy Bobby Rai and Russell Bowry into suitable verbal encouragement.

Knotty Green were well short at 154 all out in the 39th over, giving Denham a 67 run victory.