Sat 30th July Charlbury 2nd vs Britwell Salome 1st

Britwell Salome 1st 139-6 (45 overs)

Paul Jenkins 4-43

 

Charlbury 2nd 58 (33.4 overs)

 

On a sunny day Charlbury travelled to Britwell Salome who batted first. Paul Adams and Ellie opened the bowling for Charlbury and from the first ball each of them bowled they dropped into a fantastic line and length, making run scoring virtually impossible in the first few overs. The overs ticked by with hardly a run being scored off either bowler, who were being magnificently backed up in the field by some great diving stops. Despite their great bowling Charlbury were unable to make the early breakthrough their bowling deserved and they knew they needed to take wickets if they were to keep the score down. Ellie has slipped into a great line and length and was making the batsmen play and miss in every over. Paul too was bowling really well, getting a bit of movement off of a slow pitch and keeping to a teasing line and length. Finally the first wicket fell when Paul found the edge of the bat and a catch was taken. Charlbury were in control of the run scoring, but were struggling to take any wickets with all of the batsmen content to just stay there and see the change bowlers were like.  Eventually both bowlers finished their magnificent twelve over spells, each of them bowling seven maidens and going for under twenty runs. Paul Jenkins and Martyn now entered the attack and they too both quickly dropped into good lines and lengths. The batsmen continued to play in their defensive mode, just picking up a few singles and twos here and there. The overs were no starting to run out and with only one wicket down the batsmen were no going to have to chance their arm and play a few more attacking shots. Slowly the runs started to come as both batsmen began to run that little bit harder and play a few more shots. Charlbury now desperately needed some wickets to stop the score pushing on too high. Finally Paul grabbed the second wicket when the opening batsman played one shot too many and hit the ball straight to a fielder and was caught. They were now inside the last ten overs and so every shot had to be a big one and this would lead to more chances. A couple of overs later Paul clean bowled the new batsman as Charlbury began trying to slow things down. Then Martyn got in on the act when he wrapped the new batsman on the pads and he was given out LBW. The new batsman now started to hit out and with the set batsman doing the same the score started to rise at the fastest rate it had during the innings. With only a couple of overs left Paul got his man when he lured the batsman down the track, he missed the ball and Abi stumped him. In the last over Paul had the new batsman caught as Britwell finished on 139-6.

 

Charlbury were going to have to bat well on a pitch that was tough to score on. Paul Adams and Alasdair opened the batting and they found run scoring as hard as the Britwell batsmen had, hardly scoring a run in the first few overs. Alasdair was first to go when he edged one and was caught meaning Martyn had to come to the crease. The scoring was slow as both opening bowlers had dripped into good lines and lengths and were making run scoring nearly impossible. Both batsmen took an odd single here and there to keep the scoreboard moving. Paul tried to hit out at one, but miss-hit it and the ball flew towards a fielder who took the catch. Abi now joined Martyn at the crease. The overs ticked by with only the odd single being scored, but Charlbury weren’t chasing a huge total so the required rate wasn’t going up too quickly. Abi edged one and was caught as Charlbury lost their third wicket. Nick now entered the fray and tried to attack the bowling. Nick found an early boundary four which moved the score along, but a couple of overs later in trying to repeat the dose he missed the ball and was bowled. Abi Florey now entered the fray. Martyn and Abi now just looked to bat out the opening bowlers and see what else Britwell had to bowl. Finally the opening bowlers fished their allotted twelve over spells and the change bowlers came into the attack. Charlbury now had to play some more shots if they were to try and reach their target. Martyn hit out at one, but to his horror the ball flew straight to a fielder and he was caught. Ben now came to the crease. Abi was batting well, keeping out the good deliveries while trying to score off the few loose ones bowled. The score started to rise slowly, but then Ben missed one and was bowled. Paul Jenkins now came to the crease. Charlbury were a long way from their target and the new bowlers had also dropped into good lines so run scoring was still difficult. Abi edged one and was caught meaning Dave Williamson had to come to the wicket. Paul hit  boundary four, but Charlbury had only just reached fifty and were still a long way from their target. Dave got bowled meaning Ian had to come to the crease. Ian would be the last batsman as Ellie had hurt her finger during the fielding and was not able to bat. Paul and Ian batted for a couple of overs, but when Paul was caught Charlbury were all out for 58.

 

Charlbury 2nd 3 points