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May 24th/25th 2003

Two Draws in the League - and a Pacific Thriller

League 24th May:

On Saturday May 24th Denham drew both League fixtures with Binfield.

The Alamo, Rourke's Drift, and Thermopylae ...

The 1st XI restrained Binfield to 215/7 off their allotted overs, with Bobby Rai and Ambrose Treacy performing well, and Girp (apologies for spelling) having an impressive debut.

This was a gettable total perhaps, but with Denham crumbling to 20/4 after 15 overs, desperate measures were called for.

The Alamo, Rourke's Drift, Thermopylae and other great defensive battles of history were talked of as Denham - Ambrose Treacy again in the van - refused to lie down and taste defeat, reaching 55/7 at the close.

Indians Around The Wagons

Meanwhile the 2nd XI battled to an honourable draw with Binfield 2nds.

Binfield reached 221, with Phil Dickson taking the bowling honours with 2/23 off 12 overs.

Denham lost their way somewhat and it took a grim rearguard action by Lee Dean and Phil Ashworth to earn the draw for Denham, 141/8 at the close.

Last Over Thriller

The Sunday XI had their closest match of the season, prevailing over Pacific by 3 wickets with only 4 balls to spare

Accurate bowling by new skipper Richie Brathwaite (0/7 off 5) and Andy Leach (0/17 off 8) restricted Pacific to around 3 runs per over at the halfway stage. Then Pacific went wild, dismaying the the Denham fielders with some mighty hitting (Atwood, Wiehahn and Yates) and excellent running between the wickets to reach 197/4. Best fielder of the day was young Daniel Leach - or was it Jake?

Denham's reply stuttered until Dave Maynard (96) came to the crease. He dominated the Pacific attack with shots all round the ground, and when in lively partnership with Andy Leach (28) it seemed that Denham would win in record time. But Pacific brought on some wily floating spinners (particularly the diminutive Yates) and wickets fell steadily. At length Dave fell 4 short of a deserved century and we were in big trouble, with new batsmen at the crease and Pacific crowding the bat.

In came Harish Bhatt with 9 wanted. He soon began swishing across the line to the groans of the crowd.

But then he connected. High in the air it soared - 'the snowflake ball' shouted a wag. Back went the fielder. And down it came - just beyond the fielder's outstretched fingers for a six. There was still time for Phil Ashworth to be dropped off off a sharp chance before he scampered through for the winning single in the last over.

And here is Pacific's report of the same match

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