Theale & Tilehurst 1st XI vs Bagshot 1st XI

10th July 2010

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Report by James.

This was our first visit to Bagshot CC, who had beaten us comfortably on the first weekend of the season at Theale.  We thought at the time that they were a very competent side, and at the halfway point it was no real surprise to find them at the top end of the division.  On another glorious summer’s day, Wiggy lost the toss again and T&T were condemned to 50 overs in the field in the heat of the day.  Chris Lemm & Chris Cook took the new ball and both bowled tidily in the initial stages without making a breakthrough.  The Bagshot openers were both watchful and were happy to wait for a bad ball before trying anything expansive.  Jamil replaced Chris Cook at the Pavilion End, and found the edge of Hollely’s bat to make the first breakthrough.  Chris Cook changed ends and bowled a good second spell, picking up the wickets of Wilson & Lynn before they could cause too much damage.  Rags followed Jamil’s initial burst, and started tidily, but as opener Rowlett and skipper Davis upped the run-rate in the second half of the innings he was unable to make the breakthrough.  Jamil returned to the attack and bowled Davis first ball, and Chris Lemm returned for a second spell and picked up three late wickets, including that of opener Rowlett, who batted really well for 95 and perished short of a century whilst unselfishly trying to up the rate as the declaration approached.  Jamil was the pick of the T&T bowlers with 3-33, but it was also a good all-round team effort in the field, with good catches being taken and the ground fielding holding up well in good batting conditions.  With the declaration coming at 234-8 in 50 overs, we felt it was a total that would be within reach if we could bat for the full innings.

Phil and Sunil opened the T&T innings after tea, and after a couple of early boundaries Phil got a ball that held up in the very dry surface and popped a catch up in front of the wicket.  Harry was promoted up the order and joined Sunil, who then took the score past 50 before Harry mis-judged a defensive push and was LBW to Sutherland.  The next phase of the game was always likely to be crucial to the final outcome.  With Wiggy & Sunil together, and Jamil & Osman to come there was a good chance of us getting close to the target, but when Wiggy was bowled by Pettet, Jamil followed LBW next ball for a duck, shortly followed by Sunil for a well made 52 & Hammad we had gone from a decent platform of 85-2 to 105-6.  Osman & Chris Lemm rallied with a partnership of 81, and Chris in particular got stuck into the change bowling as Bagshot continued to press for the win by keeping the close catchers in.  It had reached the stage where both sides could sense they were in with a chance, but Chris then mis-judged a run to short extra cover and failed to beat the throw back to the stumps and was run out by a distance.  There was nothing for us to lose so Osman tried to continue the attack but fell shortly afterwards, and Bagshot then sensed their chance and brought back the pacy Sutherland who picked up the final two wickets by bowling full & straight.  In the end, the chase was undone by us losing clusters of wickets together, and credit must go to the Bagshot bowlers, particularly Pettet & Sutherland, who gave very little away and always carried a threat.  So, another defeat, but we were competitive for most of the game and if we can add a bit more consistency to our performance then I’m sure we can pick up the win that might turn our season around.