Scorecard

Great Totham 2 v Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI on Sat 25 Jun 2022 at 1.00
Purleigh CC Lost by three wickets

Match report TWISTS IN THE TAIL AGAINST GREAT TOTHAM

A strong-looking Purleigh XI eventually found their way to Great Braxted CC to play against Great Totham 2nd XI on a warm, sunny afternoon. On winning the toss, Chris Freegard had no hesitation in choosing to bat first. He and Josh Taylor made the now-customary good start, racing to 50 after ten overs, the skipper powering on to his own 50 early in the 15th over with 11 fours. Sadly by then Taylor had managed to power one off the top edge on to his left eye, which, once he had recovered his composure, prompted him to start teeing off but he soon missed one and was bowled for 18, 69 for 1. Mark Rynn and the skipper added 46 for the second wicket, the partnership ending when Freegard was bowled for 65, a big turning point in the game. Matt Oliver was just starting to look good when he holed out for 20, five runs later Rynn followed for 22 (150-4) and then wickets tumbled as the Purleigh batsmen failed to play themselves in on a tricky strip, collapsing to 164-9 after 35.1 overs. Tail-enders Jack Hardingham (9 not out) and Ed Oliver (17 not out) played sensibly to bat out the rest of the innings adding 45 runs aided by a generous contribution from extras to collect two further batting points and reach a total of 209 that looked possible to defend.

After tea, the Purleigh squeeze for once failed to materialise as loose balls were hit to the boundary in the early overs. Wickets were chipped away, aided by some great catching by Steve Rynn and Alex Reeves, whose miracle grab between finger and thumb in a lobster-like claw left Totham on 100-4 shortly after drinks, with the game evenly poised after two good bowling changes where both Melvin John and Josh Taylor took a wicket with their first delivery. At 154-7 and six runs an over required, Purleigh might just have been favourites but the game took another turn when Totham's young no.9 bat stayed with his experienced no.4 colleague long enough for the established batsman to make a late assault on the bowling and reach 105 not out to deservedly see his side home pretty much single-handedly with seven balls to spare. On the walk back to the pavilion the young batsmen complimented Ed Oliver on his wicketkeeping, saying it was 'pretty good for an old man' - the cheeky so-and-so!

In truth, Purleigh came close to winning a game in which their batting and bowling was below the usual standard with quite a few bad balls - but it is probably best not to tot 'em all up, just move quickly on to next week and start again.

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
9nb 21w 12b 8lb 
for 9 wickets
50
209		        
Christian Freegard b Yeates 65 13
Josh Taylor b Davis 18 3 1
Mark Rynn ct Whiting b. Moon 22
Matt Oliver ct Mays b. Moon 20
Jordan Oliver b Croft 2
Steve Rynn ct Yeates b. Moon 1 1
Melvin John b Vale 4
Jai Patel ct Croft b. Vale 0
Alex Reeves ct Moon b. Croft 1 2
Jack Hardingham Not Out  9
Ed Oliver Not Out  17 2

Great Totham 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Vale9.0046223.005.11
Yeates9.0135135.003.89
Moon9.0136312.004.00
Croft9.0132216.003.56
Davis9.0041141.004.56

Great Totham 2 Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 11w 2b 7lb 
for 7 wickets
22
210 (43.5 overs)		     
S. Pearson ct Reeves b. John 15
D. Whiting ct S. Rynn b. Patel 18
R. Mutton b Patel 6
K. Mays Not Out  105
R. Dickenson ct Reeves b. Taylor 15
J. Ridge ct Patel b. Hardingham 19
G. Davis ct John b. Patel 0
S. Yeates ct Taylor b. Hardingham 0
I. Croft Not Out  10
E. Vale  
S. Moon  

Purleigh CC Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jai Patel9.022839.333.11
Matt Oliver8.506400.007.25
Melvin John9.0032216.003.56
Christian Freegard5.002800.005.60
Jack Hardingham9.0229214.503.22
Josh Taylor3.0020120.006.67