Scorecard

Willow Herbs v Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI on Sat 07 May 2022 at 1.00
Purleigh CC Won

Match report Purleigh welcomed President Dave Bowles out of his umpteenth retirement, answering the call of duty for the first league match of the season when otherwise it would have been an eight-man team to face Willow Herbs at Mountnessing.

Skipper Chris Freegard won the toss and made the sage decision to bat first. He and Josh Taylor made steady progress, biding their thyme against a handy pair of opening bowlers before Taylor, disturbed by seeing his individual score displayed on the board, holed out to mid-off for 8 in the 8th over. This brought the in-form Mark Rynn to the crease to share a 254-run partnership with Freegard, taking advantage of some looser change bowling. Neither batsman gave many chances and Freegard played some mint shots in reaching a hundred after which he cut loose hitting five sixes which were pure ginger, before being caught in the deep for 178 with just seven balls remaining. An exhausted Rynn was finally run out for 95 after a gallant effort to reach his ton in the last over, and the Purleigh total of 294 looked like a comfrey position, with a good chance to defend it even with only nine players if the opposition could be held at bay.

But the Willow Herbs batters had other ideas, surviving a couple of early scares (including a four that hit Mark Rynn's head on the way) to take advantage of the sparsely populated outfield, hitting some good shots and some loose deliveries to the boundary with increasing frequency to be in a strong position at drinks, 150-0 (22 overs). Purleigh needed to grasp the nettle, and a drinks-break wicket prised the gate open when keeper Ed Oliver, chasing down a ball from Taylor that turned and bounced over his shoulder, scored a direct hit on the stumps to run out the batsman going for a cheeky second bye. Next over Jai Patel bowled the other opener for 96 with an absolute jaffa, and the gate opened a little wider. Wickets started to fall more regularly but Willow Herbs kept up with the run rate, needing only a run a ball for the last four overs. Clever marshalling of the bowling resources meant that Purleigh had saved some experience until the end and the last three wickets went down in a clatter to leave the nine men of Purleigh victorious by 17 runs, a fantastic effort that deserved high-chives all round, and a fitting garnish to a great game of cricket.

JJ Freegard deserves a special mention for his ferret-like ball finding skills when his dad kept hitting it into the trees.

Onwards to next week and hopefully a full eleven with no resting on our laurels

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 1w 2b 1lb 
for 3 wickets
7
294		        
Christian Freegard ct P. Fenton b. A. Jones 178 27 5
Josh Taylor ct T. Adams b. P. Fenton 8 2 1
Mark Rynn Run out  95 8
Jai Patel Not Out  0 1
Matt Oliver Not Out  1 2
Dave Bowles  
Alex Reeves  
Steve Rynn   1
Ed Oliver   1
A.N. Other  
A.N. Other  

Willow Herbs Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
P Fenton9.0244144.004.89
A Jones9.0051151.005.67
A Walsh6.004000.006.67
J Walsh9.004800.005.33
N Binnell7.004300.006.14
S Pierce2.002700.0013.50
A Dring2.003300.0016.50

Willow Herbs Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
8nb 18w 2b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
30
277 (43.3 overs)		     
P. Fenton run out (E. Oliver) 50
N. Binnell b J. Patel 96
T. Adams ct S. Rynn b. J. Taylor 7
B. Ralli b J. Patel 0
A. Austin ct and bowled J. Taylor 28
A. Jones ct M. Oliver b. C. Freegard 21
A. Dring b M. Oliver 31
J. Walsh ct J. Patel b. A. Reeves 7
A. Walsh ct M. Oliver b. C. Freegard 8
S. Pierce lbw C. Freegard 3
J. Cornwall  

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jai Patel9.0132216.003.56
Matt Oliver9.0059159.006.56
Steve Rynn2.003300.0016.50
Christian Freegard8.3057319.006.71
Josh Taylor9.0052226.005.78
Alex Reeves6.0030130.005.00