After losing the toss again, Shoreham were inserted into bat on a damp, blustery wicket. If our first league game of the season was anything to go by, the nine Shoreham players who were sheltering from the wind in the pavilion were destined for an afternoon of watching the ‘chosen two’ hit the runs. Everything was looking good as Sree hit his first ball for four. But then – shock! Sree was caught on 14, which brought Andy Glass to the crease in his first game for the 1sts. Unfortunately Andy didn’t last too long either, being caught on 8 – although this did include a six. Mark Doughty then had the pain of being run out for 2, and The Edge was outmaneuvered whilst only on 8.

With four wickets down, it was Krishna who strode out to meet our surviving opener, Andy Monteith, at the wicket. These two had a vital partnership, with Krishna accelerating the scoring and taking the pressure off anchorman Andy. Both started to take advantage of the improving conditions with sixes and fours aplenty – adding to the anxiety of all those who had parked their vehicles around the vulnerable parts of the boundary (which was every part).

The lower order were just getting comfortable again, and had begun re-entertaining the idea of sauntering off to the pub across the road, when Krishna was caught going for another big one. He departed on a triumphant 64 (only 10 of which weren’t boundaries). James Trick was our next batsmen to go in, after his brother, who was above him in the order, had an incident with his trousers that left him incapable of being seen in public, let alone batting. James carried on where Krishna left off, and ended on 27no. Andy batted out the whole innings, but couldn’t quite reach his 100, finishing on 98no – a splendid effort.

Chasing 241, Southborough got off to a good start, tucking into some juicy deliveries from Ed ‘I stayed up too late’ Walker (7-41-0). James Trick (9-37-3) bowled well at the other end, however, and Krishna (9-24-0) had a very tidy spell indeed. Jack Rivett (4-25-1) got the first wicket with a catch from Sam. And John Dinnis (8-48-3) helped stop Southborough’s top order in their stride. They were still amassing runs though, and it took solid catching from The Edge and quick fielding all round to keep Shoreham on top.

Southborough ended their innings on 206 for 8 – 36 runs short.

Thanks to Pat for umpiring.

- Ed

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Posted on Wednesday, 20th May, 2009 in 1sts Match Reports.