Redbourn II v London Colney Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI on Sat 25 Aug 2007 at 1.00pm
London Colney Cricket Club Lost By one wicket,
London Colney II vs Redbourn II at Redbourn
Division 7, August 25th
London Colney 168-7, 53 overs
Rebourn 169-9, 46.3 overs
London Colney II travelled to Redbourn in the late summer sunshine for a fixture which didn’t have much meaning for either side, but which produced a fine game of cricket and a tight finish which either side could have won. Batting first, Colney had to overcome a difficult pitch which at the start of the game was wet and slow due to the midweek rain. Bill Freeman and Mitch Bradley opted for a strategy of caution, pushing along slowly, and hoping to keep wickets in hand for a late charge as batting conditions got easier. For a long time it looked like the right policy as Colney reached 129-1 by the 42nd over, led by a confident looking Mitch Bradley who hit a season’s best 78, and supported by Freeman (13) and John Duffin (27). Rebourn had stuck to their game plan, thinking that if they kept it tight, wickets would fall as Colney tried to accelerate, and when spinners Darvell and Dobson were introduced they tok three wickets each and turned the game around. Four wickets fell for just 16 runs, and the needed late acceleration never materialised, as Colney were able to add just 48 runs off the last 13 overs to finish on 168-7.
Despite feeling they were 20 runs or so short of where they might have been, and having a pretty thin set of bowling options, Colney put up a pretty good fight of it in the field. Ady Bristow and Ian Prior bowled economic spells, and after an unlucky deflection ran out the backing-up opener, to give Colney their first wicket, Bristow took three more to leave Redbourn on 67-4. As Bristow tired, Spiers (33) and Sinfield swung the game back to the home side with a 39 run partnership before Paul Hadley struck twice to give Colney a chance. At 130-7 the door was open, but Sinfield produced a match winning innings of 46 to lift Redbourn to 152. Even then it wasn’t over as Bristow, returning for a last throw of the dice took 2 wickets in his comeback over, including Sinfield, to finish on 5-66, and leave an anxious last three overs for the home side. In the end Benfield and Thatcher kept their nerves, and saw Redbourn home with three balls to spare. Colney will look back on several chances they had to remove Sinfield, any one of which would surely have won them the game, but will take encouragement from such a good performance on a day of limited availability.
London Colney Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
168 for 7
Redbourn II Bowling
Redbourn II Batting
169 for 9
London Colney Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling
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Umpire :
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Scorer :
Christine Fretter