24th April 2010

Bishops Waltham seen off in opening day clash

Sway 211-5, Bishops Waltham 151-7. Sway won by 60 runs

A strong Sway side comfortably beat RD2SE side Bishops Waltham II in a friendly marking the start of the 2010 season.

With the long spell of lovely warm weather continuing, the Bishops Waltham wicket looked in good shape so on winning the toss skipper John Grasham elected to bat. If it is a diamond duck to get out with the first ball of a match, then what is it called if you get out to the first ball of the season? - this was the question that Adam Clark very nearly had to answer as he flashed at the opening delivery outside the off stump and getting a top edge which was put down by the keeper.

The opening scare aside, Clark and Alex Hall were soon batting very comfortably and it was not long before the boundaries started to pile up. Hall raced (not literally as he hardly ran) to a fine half century made up of 8 fours and a quality straight six. Shortly after, Clark was caught behind for a solid and pretty nifty 44 (including 9 fours) to leave Sway on 95-1. Nilantha Atapattu holed out for 8 but Steve How (26) and John Grasham (15) kept the scoreboard ticking over albeit at a slower rate. Bishops Waltham successfully introduced slow bowlers in order to tighten up the game and the strategy worked as the runs dried up somewhat and both Grasham and How were stumped trying to force the pace. Ross Clark was unfortunate to get a big deflection off his pads onto his stumps when on seven. At 160-5 there was a possibility that Sway might not set a decent score however Dave Marshall (15*) and George Thornton (30*) put on a unbeaten if unspectacular partnership of 51 to set Bishops Waltham a target of 212 to win off 40 overs.

Sway opened their attack with Thornton and Steve Thistleton. Both bowled very well and effectively killed off Bishops Waltham challenge before it go going. Thornton bowled 5 overs for just 7 runs and Thistleton 6 overs for 14 and very unlucky not to get a wicket or two. Terry Patch had a more indifferent start to his 2010 bowling with 8 overs for 38 and it was left to Grasham (6-1-13-2) to take the first wicket of the new season when the solid if unspectacular Bishops Waltham opener was finally beaten for pace and the stumps rearranged. The same over another quick Grasham delivery short of a length was edged by the incoming batsman and caught high and wide by Dave Marshall at gully. Charlie Smith (5-0-17-1) took an over to get going but soon found his line and claimed a wicket with Alex Hall taking a straightforward catch in the covers. Nilantha Atapattu (7-1-23-3) looked wicket hungry and causing the batsmen all kinds of problems. The Sri Lankan spin wizard went on to claim 3 wickets - one bowled, and two dolly catches which predictably found their way to Hall yet again.....

In the end the game petered out somewhat with Bishops Waltham running up 60 runs short. A good work out for the team in preparation for what will be a big season.