Scorecard

Hainault and Clayhall v Chingford Cricket Club Sat 5th on Sat 04 Sep 2010 at 1:00
Match was Drawn

Match report The final league game of the season was again captained by Andy Baker, as Bill dropped out late, after picking up a bug abroad (he will gladly provide you with details, if you want, or just ask any of the team!). With 9 points required to remain in 6th, it was important to win the toss and bat first, unfortunately Andy was not as good a tosser as Bill and the 5th’s were promptly asked to field first.
The one positive Chingford had was that they had one of their strongest teams out for the final league game and despite being without their regular wicket keeper, had 2 keepers in the team. This turned out to be very handy as Andrew Betts, who was expected to keep wicket, was delayed so Ben Gordon took his place for the first few overs. The opening bowlers, Chris Watson and Jack Bassett, bowled exceptionally well with little success, only one wicket to Chris in the first 12 overs. When the pair eventually had to come off, the batsmen had got there eye in and started attacking the new bowlers. Chingford had no luck as a viciously hit straight drive off Ben Gordon hit the bowlers ankle and forced him off the pitch. So with Chingford down to 10 men (again) and H&C accelerating, things didn’t look good. Learning from the mistakes of the week before, the captain set a defensive field and brought on Steve Tall in an attempt to slow the runs down. With H&C reaching 150 without losing any further wickets, and both batsmen passing 50, the 5th’s were facing another big score. Yet again Chingford dug deep and forced their way back into the game with Jack Piper and Steve Tall taking the important wickets to leave H&C with 2 new batsmen at the crease. The runs dried up with Chingford deadly spin duo Steve Tall and Andy Baker causing all sorts of problems but somehow failing to take any further wickets. Looking to gain some vital points by taking wickets, Jack Bassett returned to end the innings, which he did in style by taking his first couple of wickets for Chingford. In the end H&C declared on 247 for 5, which considering the 5th’s had 10 fielders for most of the innings, was a reasonable effort and a target that they felt they had a chance to get.
What Chingford needed was a good solid start and it was certainly solid, although very slow due to uneven bounce and some accurate bowling from the H&C opening spin bowler. The 5th’s made it to the drinks break with only one wicket down but had a run-rate of less than 3 an over when about 5 was required. With 20 overs remaining Chingford hadn’t made three figures (~80 for 3, sorry the scorers went walk abouts) and had just lost their 3rd wicket. The captain still hadn’t given up (well not completely) and having just got to the crease to partner the prolific Mike Blake, took the aggressive approach. With batting down to Steve Tall at number 9, this was not going to be a boring draw, Chingford were going to go down fighting. The Chingford batsmen tried to accelerate but found that H&C were content in settling for a draw, as they had 4 fielders on the leg side boundary and one on the off for most of the afternoon. Due to the defensive field settings of H&C, the 5th’s re-evaluated and decided to try for maximum batting points, which was still a tall order. Blake and Baker put on a quick-fire 67, before the later holed out to mid-on on 48. Mike Blake reached his 6th 50 of the season to confirm himself as the 5th’s number one batsman. To demonstrate the depth of batting Chingford had, the runs kept coming quickly as Jack Bassett, Andrew Betts and the fit again Ben Gordon (some claim he just wanted a sit down and wasn’t hurt that badly…but not me, no, I thought his ankle was broken) took the game to H&C. Despite the valiant effort of the Chingford middle order they had too big a task and couldn’t quite get the maximum batting points. The game was unsurprisingly drawn but it was an enjoyable game to finish the league season.
Chingford ended the season in 6th place with 126 points. I’ll provide a seasons review in the next games match report.

Hainault and Clayhall Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
247 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Chingford Cricket Club Sat 5th Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Christopher Watson8.0327127.003.38
Jack Bassett11.0139219.503.55
Ben Gordon4.003000.007.50
Jack Piper7.0040140.005.71
Steve Tall10.0055155.005.50
Andy Baker10.013600.003.60

Chingford Cricket Club Sat 5th Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
190		        
Steve Brewer Caught  1
Michael Blake Stumped  57
Amjad Mahmood Bowled  12 1
Sam Tall Caught  12
Andy Baker Caught  48 1
Jack Bassett Bowled  10
Andrew Betts Not Out  16
Ben Gordon Not Out  11
Steve Tall  
Jack Piper   2
Christopher Watson  

Hainault and Clayhall Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.