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Denham 1st XI v Holyport 1st XI
June 28th 2008
Oh So Close
James Nicholas's Report
Denham 1st XI entertained Holyport at Cheapside Lane on Saturday in a bottom of the table clash.
On winning the toss Jeff Simpson decided to bat on what turned out to be the best pitch of the season so far. However things didn’t start well for Denham, losing Faisal and James in the first few overs.
Usman Khan and Dave Maynard were left to attempt to re-build the innings. Both batted superbly and should both have reached centuries only for Usman to be caught on the square leg boundary for 92 and Dave on the long on boundary for an agonising 99. Dave Tang also batted well down the order for an unbeaten 37 and Bobby Rai chipped I with a bright 28 and Denham declared on 282/6.
Holyport batted positively in response and were always up with the required run rate, but Denham were able to take wickets fairly regularly. Faisal made up for his poor batting display with 4-51 and Bobby Rai produced exactly the same figures. Unfortunately Denham could not prise out the final wicket and Holyport finished on 238/9.
Denham moved out of the relegation zone but Englefield in ninth are only just behind with a game in hand. and produced a marvelllous partnership, but just when both seemed set to get to three figures, disaster happened. Dave Maynard was out for that awful number, 99, while Usman Khan perished for 92. Even so, Denham posted 282/6 off 51 overs.
When Morgan (56) and Hendy (53) were going well for Holyport, Denham may have felt in some danger, but both Bobby Rai (4/51) and Faisal Mahmood (also 4/51) were in great form, and in the end the visitors were hanging on by the skin of their teeth at 238/9.
Denham 14 pts Holyport 8 pts
Denham are 8th, with Wraysbury (who got thrashed by Taplow) just 8 points ahead of Winchmore Hill (who were totally thrashed (all out for 41) by Braywood) - and Taplow at the top of the League.
Next week is the President's Match - all welcome at Cheapside Lane
White Waltham 2nd XI v Denham 2nd XI
June 28th 2008
Torchwood Destroyed, But Cap'n Jack Survives
With rain on the Friday, there was a possibility that Saturday’s match at White Waltham could be affected with stoppages. However, Denham arrived to find a flat track and perfect conditions for the mid table clash. Here to bring you all the news from the match is Denham 2s cricket correspondent, the Linesman.
Captain Jack won the toss and, after taking one look at the pitch, decided that the only option would be to bat and rack up a big score. With injuries depleting availability, Denham had only ten players. It was going to take a massive effort by the 2s to get a result from this game.
The Denham innings began well, with Richards and Rulach scoring some quick runs. But Rulach’s afternoon came to a quick end when he was bamboozled around his legs from a ball which jagged back sharply off the pitch. Collins and O’Hara followed him back into the pavilion, leaving Captain Jack and Richards to rebuild the innings.
White Waltham bowled tightly, keeping runs to a minimum. Despite this, Richards and Captain Jack began to nurdle runs and, with a flurry of pulls and hooks, Richards brought up his half century in fine fashion. Denham were looking at a score of 180+ but Richards fell to a good ball on 56. It was left to Captain Jack to bat with the tail and shepherd Denham to a respectable score. And that is exactly what he did, with a combination of tasty cover drives and sneaky late cuts.
More action was to follow as, after Schembers played all around a straight one, Umpire Collins decided to show the batsmen one of his shots, with a quick slash at mid on. The White Waltham fielders applauded quietly after this exhibition but, despite the beauty of the slash, Collins’ short innings did not yield any “runs”.
As his innings progressed, Captain Jack married the philosophical with the pragmatic through some spectacular adages. “If it’s a bye behind, we run a single, but if it’s off my edges we’ll take two”. The crowd was enjoying his shots and applauded generously when he brought up a fantastic half century with a cut for four. Captain’s innings – well batted Sir Grover! Captain Jack finished unbeaten on 59, but Denham were unable to build a large score, totaling 167 off their 52 overs.
Allen and Mistygacz opened for White Waltham and proceeded to knock off the runs. Despite the efforts of Atwal and Schembers, Denham were unable to restrict WW making runs quickly. Enter Captain Jack, with a magical spell of left arm swing and pace that completely bamboozled the batsmen. Mistygacz fell when he edged behind and then Captain Jack got one to rip through the defence of the batsman and smack the middle stump. But Captain Jack could not shift Allen and, despite some very close leg before appeals, White Waltham were able to knock the runs off easily with plenty of overs to spare.
After a promising start to the season, the Twos have found themselves struggling to put pressure on teams. After the mid season break this must change if the team are going to finish near the top of the table.
Denham 4 pts White Waltham 20 pts
Little Marlow scraped a draw at Coleshill, with Wargrave (thrashing Hurley) now only 20 points behind them. Denham are 'comfortably mid-table' 53 points behind the leaders.
Next game: Saturday is the President's Match - all welcome.
Awaiting