Sat 29th June Charlbury 2nd vs Aston Rowant 4th

Aston Rowant 4th 116 (36.1 overs)

Ollie Maw 5-41

 

Charlbury 2nd 117-2 (18.4 overs)

Abi Flory 56

 

On a very hot day Charlbury won the toss and elected to bowl first. The game was played on the nursery ground as the annual Charlbury Beer Festival was being held on the main pitch, this meant the seconds had to perform well as they had an audience to entertain and they did not disappoint. Miyuru and Ellie opened the bowling and both of them quickly dropped into a good line and length. Both bowlers were right on the money from the off and with the fielders backing them up the going was slow early on. The batsmen were content to just see off a few of the early overs, just picking up the odd single. Miyuru struck first when he moved one away from the batsman, got the edge and wicket-keeper Steve did the rest. A couple of overs later Ellie got in on the act when she clean bowled the other opening batsman. The two new batsmen were now content to just try and see the opening bowlers off to see what else Charlbury had on offer. A couple of boundaries were hit, but the scoring was slow. Ellie was bowling a great spell, getting a bit of movement and using her accuracy to stop the batsmen scoring. Miyuru was also bowling well, using his extra pace to keep the batsmen honest. After 17 overs a double change in the bowling was made with debutant Ollie Maw and Emilia now entering the attack. Emilia was straight on the money from the first ball, getting movement off of the pitch to cause all the batsmen problems. Ollie took a couple of overs to get into it, but once he did the batsmen began to struggle. Again the two batsmen took a couple of overs just to have a look at the new bowlers, pushing the odd single around and a couple of boundaries off of some early loose bowling. The overs ticked by with the score not moving along too quickly and although Charlbury were in charge they would like some wickets so that they did not have too many to chase. Finally Charlbury got a wicket when Ollie wrapped a batsman on the pads and he was given out adjudged LBW. He quickly got a second when the new batsman miss-hit one and the ball flew to Ellie who gratefully took a good catch. The number three batsman was still there and scoring the bulk of the runs, get him out and Charlbury would have an easier chase. A couple of overs later and Ollie was back in the wickets when he clean bowled the new batsman leaving Rowant five wickets down. The overs were now starting to run out and so Rowant would have to try to attack harder if they were to set a defendable total. Ollie then grabbed his fourth victim of the day when he bowled the new batsman, with the score not quite at the hundred mark. The number three batsman now tried to attack a bit harder. Then Emilia got her first victim clean bowling the new batsman, Charlbury were in total command. Then Charlbury got the one they wanted. The number three had a go at Ollie, but edged it and Adam took a good catch. Now things were getting desperate for Rowant with eight wickets down and not a lot to come. The ninth wicket came via a run out when one batsman ran and the other responded late, with an easy throw into the stumps saw him run out by a way. Emilia finished the innings off when she clean bowled the last player leaving Rowant 116 all out.

 

After tea it was down to debutant Adam Klewin and Abi Flory to get the innings off to a good start and that is exactly what they did. Adam started slowly, defending the good deliveries and pushing the odd single when he could to rotate the strike. Abi was more aggressive, hitting a couple of boundaries early on and always on the lookout for the quick single. One of the bowlers had not settled well and a few wides were bowled which added to the score. Both players ran hard to put some pressure on the fielders and it paid off when an over throw went to the boundary for four. Abi continued to attack hard hitting another boundary. One bowler had settled well and he was bowling a good line and length, making runs slightly harder to come by. Adam hit a boundary four to bring up the fifty partnership inside ten overs. After nine overs a double change in the bowling was made as Rowant desperately searched for the breakthru wicket. Both new bowlers settled into a reasonable line and length and both players struggled to get the ball away for much more than a single, but with no wickets coming the bowling was changed around again quickly with two more new bowlers entering the attack. The first of these was to Abi’s liking and she tucked into a couple of loose deliveries by hammering then straight back passed the bowler for four. Adam then hit a couple of boundary fours off of the other new bowler as the score suddenly raced along. Another boundary saw Abi reach a well deserved fifty and the first by a lady playing in a second team game. Also in the same over the hundred partnership was brought up. Then next over disaster struck as Abi hit one in the air and was caught for a great 56. Martyn now entered the fray, but was not there too long as a new bowler entered the attack and clean bowled him leaving Charlbury 108-2. Andy now came to the crease. A few more extras were bowled. A couple of overs later and Adam pushed a single and the game was won y eight wickets.

 

A great win for the seconds built on a great bowling display from young Ollie and then backed up by a fantastic opening partnership from Adam and Abi with the latter picking up her maiden half century – well played lads and lasses.

 

Charlbury 2nd 25 points