Claygate v Netherne - 10th July

On a hot sunny summer afternoon at Dalmore Avenue, Claygate won the toss and elected to bat.

On an easy paced wicket, Jamie Henderson (28) and Ross Carmichael (43) laid the foundation of the innings with an opening stand of 62 of 11 overs. Batting at number five, Chris Howe returned to form with a quick 29 consisting of seven fours. With a cheap wicket falling either side of Chris' dismissal, the innings moved on to crossroads at 132 for 5 in 22 overs.

Simon Pitt (33) then ably stepped in to support Sahan Wijesekera (94) in a crucial and positive 102 run sixth wicket stand off 11 overs before getting out to an attempted pull shot. Continuing his excellent run of form, Sahan hit 2 sixes and 16 fours in his hurricane knock, with Netherne often employing six fielders on the fence to hold him back. With Sahan departing at 257, the tail made merry to add 51 runs in the last 4 overs. Tom Mckinley (37) hit two massive sixes and five fours on his return to the Saturday side. An early declaration at 308 for 9 after 40 overs allowed Claygate 50 overs to bowl Netherne out. Skipper M Rogers (5-79 off 13 overs) bowled well with M Walker (4-113 off 14 overs) being expensive in his last 3 overs which went for 47 runs.

After some excellent tea, Netherne lost two quick wickets including one run out (Luke Webb/Lance Mayer) to crawl to 2-16 after 10 overs. A 47 run third wicket partnership ended with the introduction of spin. Admist a flurry of runs mainly coming of J Alexander's (53) blade and a couple of wickets, Netherne moved to 88-5 after 20 overs. I Thorpe (25) then was associated in a 61 run sixth wicket stand with J Alexander. However, Vikram Prabhakar (5-36 off 9 overs) and Simon Pitt (3 for 9 off 7.4 overs) polished off the innings to enable Claygate to win by 114 runs.

With a maximum number of 40 points from this game, Claygate will remain in the top two of the league this weekend. The holiday season translates into squad rotation and Claygate need to ensure consistency over the coming weeks to secure a return to the first division next year.