Wield vs Rowledge B, at home, Saturday 28th June
Like the start of June home to Basingstoke we were back to Flaming again and Wield were on fire for this one! Rowledge is the only other team in the league not to have lost a game, so we knew this was going to be tough. Anyway, another beautiful Saturday morning dawned and captain Wilf promptly won the toss and put them into bat. It started slowly, with some beautifully crafted shots by Rowledge’s Lawrence and it was not until the third over that Gilbert was able to bowl the first wicket. Charlie held the other end down and Rowledge moved forward to 215-1. Sam and Bruce each opened their accounts with a wicket a piece - Sam taking a wicket on his first ball and Bruce keeping it very tight with one as well - Rowledge moved slowly to 221-3. Barney and Ellie enthusiastically took to their ends. Ellie steamed in and bowled one in her first over and then took another wicket in her last one. Barney did his bit with some interesting bowling changes and the score crept up to 233-5. The famous final two stepped up and Rowledge faced the full fury of Oliver and Wilf. Oliver’s second ball took a wicket and another fell in his second over. Wilf took two in his first over and another in his last and Rowledge slipped back to 221 all out. Tea...
The Wield Tea yet again risked taking all the credit for a great morning, delicious flapjacks from Emma which are becoming such a feature that Colin had ensured his own private supply before they all vanished. The coffee, the coffee encore: Moonroast (www.moonroast.co.uk) Wield’s local brew took centre stage again and we were set and ready for Wield’s batting.
We already knew that Rowledge were good in the field from their stats so there were nerves. Sam and Charlie opened and finished on a solid 212-1. Charlie hit a good 4 in his final over while Sam was unluckily caught. Gilbert and Bruce bustled to the wicket and set to it. Gilbert took Rowledge apart with two 4s and a 6 while Bruce couldn’t get over the ball and was caught out. The score moved up to 217-4 as Barney and Ellie arrived and Ellie continued where she had finished off with her bowling – another two 4s and blinding 6. Barney opened his account with a 6 and was well caught behind with some very quick reactions from Rowledge’s very own Jonty (Rhodes)! The score moved up to 246-5. Oliver and Wilf ran in and that was about as energetic as they got. Mindful of the situation and the need for a win in this crucial match, captain Wilf channelled the spirit of Rahul Dravid and everything slowed down, almost to a stop...Three runs were taken from byes and Wilf farmed the strike. Oliver defended at the other end and the last over arrived. A maiden. Every ball defended beautifully and the winning score stalled at 255-5 but it was enough. With the tension ratcheted up to 11, this was a very mature response to the state of the game and importantly no more wickets fell. Wield had eight out of eight with two re-scheduled games to go, a wonderful set up for Zooters at the Ageasbowl on Sunday!
Ellie was “Man of the Match” after her joint highest score with no wickets lost and two wickets taken in her bowling spell, and one of the best 6s seen all season.
Rupert Cazalet