Holton & Wheatley vs Isis
Sunday 18 July 2010
Original Report by Alan Banyard
Superb Fielding Performance takes Holton to Victory
On a wicket giving some help to the bowlers, Holton successfully defended a relatively low total with a fine all round performance in the field which included no less than four run outs. This is surely a club record.
The day didn't start well for Holton as Guy Burford lost the toss and not surprisingly the visitors put us in to bat. After an unusually dry summer, we finally had some mid week rain which resulted in a pitch that gave quite a bit of bounce and movement.
Two new players played their debut for Holton, Arpit and Ahmed, both Indian students at Oxford Brookes.
The first ball of the match was delivered by Wyatt, was a bit wide and did a bit and went for four byes. The conditions though probably didn't account for Graham Nichols, who misread the line of a well pitched up delivery from Wyatt's second ball of the day and was bowled leaving us at four for one.
Simon Switala came in at number three. After surviving the rest of Wyatts over, Simon looked to build a partnership with opener Alan Banyard. Simon looked to be in fine form and soon notched up three boundaries, whilst Alan consolidated with some ones and twos. However Wyatt (3 for 14 off 8 overs) was getting a lot out of the wicket and after inducing several play and misses from the batsmen, had Simon bowled for 15.
At 21 for 2, we were in a precarious position and safety first and build a platform was the objective as John Simpson joined the fray. Wyatts initial spell of five overs was seen off and Hardy at the other end was tapped for a few. However, in over 18, Alan decided to push the scoring and was deceived trying to drive spinner Pansford back over his head - bowled for 10.
The next partnership was our best. In 11 overs, Tim Littlewood scored a brisk 23 in a partnership of 48 with John. The wicket was still diificult to play, but once Pansford (the best of the slower bowlers) was off and the pace skills of Wyatt were still in intermission, Holten began to make good progress. John matched Tim, scoring a couple of boundaries in the process. But then Tim chipped one to mid on and we were 91 for 4 off 29. Actually chipped could be the right word - there was a very dull sound off the bat as if it was cracked.
Guy Burford entered the arena at six. Looking for a captain's innings to push up the rate, Guy scored a quick 12, but then was caught. At 111 for 5 with 8 overs to go, a score of 160 still seemed a reasonable target. But it was not to be. The new batsmen struggled in the conditions and of course the pace and movement of Wyatt returned. Holton managed only another 18 runs off the last 8 for the loss of three wickets. Even John Simpson found it impossible to up the scoring rate, however he finished with a commendable 51 not out in the circumstances - as it turned out undoubtedly the match winning innings.
| Holton & Wheatley innings | 4s | ||||||
| G Nichols | b N Wyatt | 0 | |||||
| A Banyard | b K Pansford | 10 | |||||
| S Switala | b N Wyatt | 15 | 3 | ||||
| J Simpson | Not Out | 51 | 4 | ||||
| T Littlewood | caught | b R Blatchford | 23 | 2 | |||
| G Burford | caught | b J Walter | 12 | 1 | |||
| Binoy | LBW | b J Walter | 0 | ||||
| Kiran | b N Wyatt | 5 | 1 | ||||
| J Kelly | caught | b N Hardy | 3 | ||||
| Ahmed | Not Out | 2 | |||||
| Arpit | Did Not Bat | ||||||
| Extras | 8 | ||||||
| TOTAL: | 8 wkts, 40.0 overs | 129 | |||||
At tea, we felt that we hadn't scored enough. But with a bowler friendly wicket, there was still a chance if we fielded well, protected the boundaries and regularly took wickets.
Debutant Arpit opened the bowling and ...wow... we had another quick bowler. However it was John Kelly at the other end who made the initial breakthrough. Stoneman was deceived by the length and slow pace and was nicely stumped by Tim Littlewood. Eight for 1.
Isis found scoring even harder than we had, especially against Arpit. Before long our new quickie had Isis 3 and 4 back in the pavilion and at 16 for 3 we were definitely on top. Then in the next over from John (K) there was a mix up in the running after a slight misfield and Arpit ran out the number five. 16 for 4.
If Holton thought the game was in the bag, then the batting skills of opener O Walter hadn't been considered. Having watched four of his colleagues disappear to the pavilion, a fine partnership with N Hardy ensued. The game was definitely swinging back towards Isis. But then Arpit dived to stop a drive off Hardy and deflected the ball onto the stumps. Walter had backed up a long way and was very unfortunate to be run out at 64 for 5.
Kiran, Ahmed and Binoy then took on bowling duties. Although not taking a wicket, they bowled tight spells and the run rate required progressed through 4, 5 and 6. The run rate pressure took its toll and soon there was another batting mix up between the wickets. A fine throw from Kiran ran out Hardy for 22, the last significant resistance. Then, would you believe, another run out by Guy Burford and Isis were 84 for 7. Isis required another 46 from 8 overs.
John Simpson took the last four overs uphill and took the final two wickets as Isis disintegrated to 101 for 9. Isis last pair batted in relative comfort to complete the innings, but they couldn't prevent a Holton victory by 23 runs.
It was an impressive victory!
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| Arpit | 8 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
| J Kelly | 8 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
| Kiran | 7 | 1 | 23 | 0 |
| Ahmed | 8 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| Binoy | 5 | 1 | 18 | 0 |
| J Simpson | 4 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
Run Outs - Arpit, Ahmed, Kiran, G Burford
Stumpings - T Littlewood (2)
Catches - Kiran