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Claygate v Salfords – 26th June
On a hot and sunny day with just a few scattered clouds, Claygate lost the toss and were asked to bat first at the picturesque Woodhatch Road ground in Salfords.
Ross Carmichael and Sahan Wijesekera shared their second century stand in three games adding 154 runs for the second wicket. Ross made a patient 44 but man-of-the-match Sahan dominated the innings with a brilliantly compiled 164 – including 27 fours and 5 sixes. Warren Ganesh's all-time Claygate record of 178 not out was in sight before an imminent declaration induced Sahan to hole out in search of quick runs. Dillon Woods made a quick fire 24 not out at the end as Claygate declared at 273 for 5 after just 42 overs.
After tea, Luke Webb and Matt Holmes each got a breakthrough to reduce the home side to 23-2 before skipper R Besley (64) and C Tarrant (29) led a good Salford response. But the introduction of leg spinner Dillon Woods (2-49 off 6 overs) and Sahan (2-21 off 4 overs) bowling in tandem, ran through the middle order aided by some good catching in the outfield by Vikram Prabhakar and Luke Webb. Chris Howe's figures of 1-34 off 10 overs do no justice to some excellent off spin bowling with the sharp turn and bounce troubling all the Salfords batsmen. A hobbling O Palmer (28) batting without gloves and without a runner, held out for some time before Vikram Prabhakar (3-12 off 5.3 overs) returned to mop up the tail and register a convincing 74 run win for Claygate with 9 overs to spare.
At the halfway point of the season, the first team's record shows six games with an equal number of wins and winning draws, one rained off game and two defeats. With more talent available in the second half of the season thanks to school vacations and new recruits, we will be looking for a more consistent and stronger displays beginning with the away return game at Albury on July 3.
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