Sat 6th May Charlbury vs Wolvercote

Charlbury 231 (43.5 overs)

Stuart Atkins 43

 

Wolvercote 146 (38.5 overs)

 

Charlbury won the toss and on a cloudy, cold day elected to bat first. Tom Nash and Graham opened the batting and got Charlbury off to a good start. Graham hammered a delivery in the first over to the boundary for four and then in the next over Tom cut a short delivery for four. Tom was flying from the off pushing a couple of singles and then in the fourth over he reeled off three boundaries, including pulling one powerfully to towards the pavilion. After four overs Charlbury had reached 35-0. Graham was playing a more sedate game, but was still looking to pounce on anything that was slightly loose. Slowly the Wolvercote bowlers started to find their length and line and the scoring started to slow down slightly. A quick single was take and the fifty partnership was brought up. A change of bowling was made at one end as Wolvercote sought to stem the flow of runs. Then disaster struck as Tom, who had been batting really well, missed one and was bowled. Ashley now came to the crease and was quickly off the mark with back to back boundaries. Graham then tried to hit out at one, missed the ball and was bowled leaving Charlbury 74-2 off twelve overs. Ben now joined Ashley at the wicket. The outfield was quick and the Charlbury batsmen were taking full advantage of this, hitting several powerful shots for four. Ben started off well finding a couple of early boundary fours to keep the scoreboard moving along quickly. Ashley smashed another four, but then next ball in trying to repeat the dose he was unable to clear mid-on and was caught. Josh now entered the fray. Ben was still batting well, keeping his head and looking for the bad ball to put away. Josh started slowly just to make sure no more early wickets fell. Ben then missed one and was bowled and so Stuart arrived at the crease. A couple of overs later things got even worse for Charlbury as Josh was bowled leaving Charlbury 108-5 off 19 overs. Ian now came to the crease. Stuart and Ian now began rebuilding the innings, slowly at first not looking to take too many risks. Stuart hit a couple of early boundaries and Ian one to keep the scoring moving along at a good pace. Both batsmen were looking to just push the bowling around, picking up ones and twos and putting lots of pressure on the bowling side. Another change in the bowling was made as one of the opening bowlers finished his twelve over spell. The new bowler quickly dropped into a reasonable length and line and gave little away. After 29 overs Charlbury had reached 151-5 and now with the overs beginning to run out they were going to need to push on hard to set a defendable score. Just as it looked like Stuart was going to get going he was wrapped on the pads and given out adjudged LBW for a great 43. Steve now entered the fray. Another change in the bowling was made as one bowler finished his allotted twelve overs and a new bowler entered the attack. Steve attacked the new bowler hammering a early boundary off of him. Ian had been batting really well, stroking the ball around and running hard for ones and twos, but when he tried to hit out at the new bowler he hit the ball straight to a fielder and was caught for a good 27. Tom Eaton now arrived at the crease. After 38 overs Charlbury had reached 195-7. Both batsmen were playing well, looking for the quick single and hitting boundaries. The 40th over was a big one as Tom smashed two fours and Steve one as Charlbury raced over the 200 mark. Tom continued to attack, but hit one straight to a fielder and was caught meaning Dean came to the crease. One of the opening bowlers now returned to the attack and first ball back bowled Steve for a good 28. Jake now arrived at the wicket and took two fours off the first over he faced. A few more runs were pushed around before Dean was caught on the boundary trying for a big shot leaving Charlbury all out for 231.

 

Charlbury needed a good start with the ball if they were to defend their total. Jake and Ian opened the bowling. A couple of early boundaries were hit, but then both bowlers dropped into a great line and length and started to make run scoring more difficult. Jake struck in the fifth over when he induced an edge and Ben took the catch at second slip. Next over Ben found the edge and the other opening batsman was caught by Steve behind the stumps. Things got even better a couple of overs later as Ian wrapped a batsman on the pads and he was given out adjudged LBW leaving Wolvercote 27-3 off eight overs. Ian was bowling a magnificent spell and the batsmen were struggling to lay a bat on him let alone score any runs. Jake too was bowling a good spell, getting the ball to move around a bit. Jake then grabbed his second wicket when he wrapped one batsman on the pads and he was given out adjudged LBW leaving Wolvercote 44-4 off 13 overs. A change in the bowling was now made as Ian left the attack and Stuart entered it. A couple of overs later Jake left the attack and was replaced by Ian. Ian bowled a couple of overs before coming out of the attack and Josh came on. Stuart then grabbed a wicket as the batsman tried to hit out, but could only sky the ball and Ashley got under it to take a good catch. In Josh’s first over he was hammered for a six, but got his revenge two balls later when the batsman hit the ball straight to Ashley who gratefully took the catch. Wolvercote were trying to play some shots, but they were getting further and further behind the required rate and so were going to have to take some risks if they were going to get close. After 25 overs Wolvercote had reached 90-7. Stuart was bowling a good spell, getting the ball to move around a bit and with lots of pace. Josh too was bowling well, getting the ball to move around which made it hard for the batsmen to get after him. One batsman decided to go for it a bit and hammered several boundary fours and with some quick running the score started to rise. The batsmen tried to take a quick single off of Stuart’s bowling, but Josh was alert to the possibility of a run out and just threw the ball in quickly and Stuart whipped the bails off to run the batsman out. Josh then bowled a slower ball and the hard hitting batsman missed it and was bowled leaving Wolvercote eight wickets down. In josh’s next over one batsman threw the bat at the ball and hit a boundary, but also put his shoulder out and so had to retire hurt meaning Wolvercote were down to their last two batsmen. A double change in the bowling was made as Jake and Ian entered the attack. Both bowlers dropped straight on the money, but the batsmen were intent on just staying there and picking up the odd single. Ian finished his allotted twelve over spell and so dean entered the attack. In his first over he wrapped one batsman on the pads and he was given out LBW leaving Wolvercote 146 all out.

 

A great win for the lads with a good all round batting performance from everyone, then that was backed up with a great display from the bowlers and fantastic fielding display – well played lads.

 

Charlbury 30 points