Friday, June 4, 2010

Didcot 2nds vs Dinton 3rds

Match abandoned due to rain.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Abingdon 3rds Vs Didcot 2nds

Didcot 2nds were away to Abingdon Vale 3rds this week.Abingdon decided to field first after winning the toss. Surprising decision given that it was very hot day and pitch was looking very flat.Viraj went early with the score on 7 trying to pull a ball which was not as short as he expected and was clean bowled.Australian import Brad came in at 3 and found the middle of bat straight away.Prasad kept company with him and tried to give as much of the strike as possible.Brad hit some good shots and pick of the bunch was an on drive straight past bowler which raced past the mid on fielder onto the boundary. Prasad was bowled when the score was on 50.Conner was out to good diving catch at point.Chris Parsons and Henry Latimer were out soon afterwards.Andy Griffiths joined Brad and they took the score 120 for 5 before Brad was out to tired shot for 54.Enter the legend Dave at number 8 and he started of with a few streaky shots and soon the boundaries kept flowing.Andy and Dave put on another 50 runs partnership.Dave finished on 72 and Dicot got 205 in the end.Abingdon started slowly and soon Andy Griffiths bowling from the far end had their opener caught low at second slip by Dave Allen.Carl and Andy bowled superbly and run rate was never more than 2.5 runs an over.Rob Keat came on and he bowled the other opener.Henry took over from the other end.It was slow going and regular fall of wickets hampered Abingdon’s progress.Soon they shut up shop and started playing for a draw.There were about 4 overs left when captain Viraj decided it was time for some thing different and came on to bowl.He took the wicket of the very first ball.Prasad taking the catch at gully to dismiss the opposing captain.Dave Allen came on from the other end and took out the stubborn Hede in his first over.The team now moved in for the kill and soon Abingdon was on the ropes.Dave Allen bowled the last over and there still 2 wickets to take.He clean bowled the number 10 Munday with his 2nd ball and Rich white the number 11 walked in 4 balls to face.He kept them out safely to deny Didcot the full 25 points.Abingdon got 9 which keeps Didcot still leading the division.It is Dinton next up who are only 5 behind in second place.25 points this week will enable Didcot to take firm grip on the Division 8 league table.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Kimble 3rds vs Didcot 2nds

Didcot 2nds took on Kimble 3rds in the 2nd game.After losing the 1st game so badly it was imperative that the team had to win regain confidence quickly.Captain Viraj won the toss and surprisingly elected to field.But keeping in mind we were all out of 52 in the first game it was not that much of gamble.Les Addison and Carl Hancock opened the bowling on a pitch that was keeping low and was a bit two paced.Both bowled with good control and there were no loose balls for the batsmen to capitalize upon.Carl soon had the opener out with Ross taking a fine low catch behind the wicket.Then Carl got the number 3 Zaman out the very next ball with a peach of a delivery and middle stump was knocked out of the ground. Rob replaced Les and got a wicket of his first ball.Carl finished a good opening spell of 7-2-13-3.Kimble never really got going at any stage.Sam Smith was brought on to replace Carl to bowl left arm spinners. Considering this was his first game for 2nds he showed no sign of any nerves .Bowling with flight and guile and giving the batsmen no width he was soon amongst the wickets. He finished with figures of 6-0-23-5.Kimble were all out for 77.There was still an hour to goto tea and Didcot had to face 15 overs.Viraj and Prasad started off determined not too lose an early wicket.It was slow going and only 12 runs came of the first 10 overs.Prasad was out to the leg spin of Zaman for 7.Connor coming back from injury came in 3.He and Viraj moved the score onto 29 when tea was taken.After tea both Conner and Viraj started off agressively and game was over in just over 5 overs after tea.The team was relieved get their first win on the board.Sterner tests await in the next game against Abingdon.

PS: Due to administrative problems the first game has been awarded to the 2nd’s.Only in the Cherwell league do you get bowled out for 52 and still win.So 2 wins out of 2 is not a bad way to start the season.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Didcot CC 2nds vs Buckingham

Didcot 2nds started their season at the shiny new rebuilt Field of Dreams.Hopes and expectations were high.Captain Viraj won the toss and elected to bat on what was a dull grey and damp first Saturday in May.The calendar may say it was May but it felt more like February.Conditions were tailor made for seam bowling but with the Cherwell league points system as it is batting first was the only option.To say what followed was a disaster is an early contender for understatement of the season.Probably no need to include the gory details here.Didcot were all out for 52 with only Brad and Ross reaching double figures.Buckingham knocked off the runs in quick time.Rob Keat was the pick of the bowlers taking the only wicket to fall.He should had an another but Prasad dropped a relatively straight forward chance at gully.Tea which followed after the game was fantastic what with three different choices of home made cakes.If only we spent as much time at the crease as eating the tea we could have reached a respectable score.Kimble 2's is the next game surely there is only way the team can go.