Match Report - 3xi vs Chertsey by Nate Dawg

Wick Win Top of the Table Clash

Hampton Wick 3xi vs Chertsey (kingsfield)
HWRCC 121 all out Clements 47
Chertsey 101 all out Charlton 4-18
HWRCC win by 20 runs

Scorecard

Rather sexy looking table

On Saturday the 3s hosted league leaders Chertsey. With 1 point separating the two sides and third place Woking not having a league game it provided a perfect opportunity for the Wick to move to the top of the league.

Thankfully, after the downpour on Friday night, the sun was shining on Saturday morning and although the wicket was damp and spongy the forecast suggested that we would get the game in. The Chertsey skipper won the toss and elected to field first. It was a good toss to win as the ball was swinging around corners and the pitch was assisting with some variable bounce. Anthony took full advantage of these conditions, removing Ratnage and Singh with the first two balls of his first over. At this point I should mention that he was only 14 and could only bowl 6 overs. He returned figures of 2 for 6 from his spell so we were happy to see him taken out of the attack.

After the loss of the two early wickets it was an uphill struggle for the Wick. The main objective now was to bat for as long as possible, knowing that a score of 150 would be a good effort on this wicket. Byrne came in at 4 and lead the rebuilding effort. He was supported by Risman and Lloyd. Despite not getting many runs they hung around in difficult conditions seeing off the opening and first change bowlers. Things were beginning to look better for the Wick until Byrne was eventually given out LBW (although there was a lot of bat involved) by Ratnage.

With the score 70 for 5 Chertsey decided not to continue with their faster bowlers and brought on their spinners Pulling and Raeside. They continued to take wickets and slow our progress but Tom Clements managed to keep the scoreboard ticking by punishing anything short from the bowlers. He was the last man out but his important innings of 47 helped us to a total of 121.

At this stage Chertsey may be forgiven for coming off the field thinking that they had done enough to retain 1st place in the league. However, I felt that we were only 20 runs light of a very competitive total and after a quick tea we got back to Kingsfield to do some fielding drills and to be prepared to show them that we were not going to hand them the victory.

Tommy D and Aqeel opened the bowling. Chertsey moved onto 25 for no loss as Tommy struggled to find his usual length and Aqeel, who was getting some late in-swing, was unlucky not to get a wicket. This prompted a change in the bowling as Eddy Charlton replaced Tommy D. Ed made an instant impact keeping a good off stump line with the ball moving away off the seam and bowled Houghton with an excellent Yorker. He looked like their most dangerous batsman and with this wicket we were on our way as Ed soon claimed the other opener who edged to slip and the number 3 who chipped one up to Byrne at mid-wicket.

With the score on 80 for 6, rain interrupted play. Chertsey were on the ropes and they knew it. As the rain came down they were huddled together in the Kingsfield shed trying to come up with reasons not to come back. It seemed like they were ready to take a winning draw. Thankfully the rain lasted about half an hour and after another 15 minutes, in which Chertsey were making up rules to take as much time out of the game as possible, the match recommenced.

Chertsey came out positively hitting a few boundaries but their resistance all but ended when Aqeel bowled their captain with a full delivery that he was looking to smash away. Aqeel then made short work of Raeside and finshed the innings off by removing the middle stump of the number 11.

This was another good victory for the 3s. We have been used to posting big totals this season and closing the game out after the first innings. It was good to see that we have enough belief to handle the pressure of defending a low total. Clements (47) and Ed Charlton (4-18) were the outstanding performers in the game. The MoM goes to Ed Charlton for a magnificent spell of bowling, in which he cleaned up Chertsey’s top order batsmen.