The subcontinental conditions continued, as we returned to West Chiltington for what is often a competitive fixture – although this year would prove an exception. Falling at the first hurdle, Skipper Eswar lost the toss and West Chiltington, unsurprisingly, elected to bat. With the sun beating down and the conditions ideal for batting, the opposition, perhaps understandably, thought that a good chunk of their work had already been accomplished. However, little did they know what was to come.
Rob Rydon made the most of the new ball, demonstrating the danger of McGrath-esque plugging away in the corridor of uncertainty. He soon dismissed one of the opening batsman with a delivery that reared up and took the outside edge, almost taking T. Fletcher’s head off with it. This sparked a top-order collapse for West Chiltington, with Rydon picking up four of the top six and Wedge-Bull helping himself to the other two. With an unfortunate series of ducks in the middle order, West Chiltington steadied the ship with a couple of good partnerships. But some lethal pace from debutant J. Prinsloo and G. Smith, and A. Marsh’s beautiful, guileful leg-spin prevented the batsmen from putting together a meaningful recovery. West Chiltington were eventually all out for 113, batting 30 of their 35 overs.
After a splendid tea with ample clotted cream on offer, the Buccaneers set about knocking off the total. Openers Berry and Acton (debutant) started off the innings in style, dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground. However, they fell quicker than they would have liked with West Chiltington quickly bringing their overseas professional, Louwe, into the attack, no doubt recognising that the quality of the batting line up required it. J. Marsh batted with characteristic finesse but fell, unfortunately, to Louwe, who by this stage must have sniffed half a chance of victory having picked up two wickets and with the Buccaneers three down. But this confidence seemed to evaporate when Kalidasan opened his account by hitting Louwe back over his head for a maximum, prompting the immediate spread of five fielders from ring to boundary. He and Prinsloo knocked off the remaining runs calmly, with the Buccaneers gliding to victory in little over 21 overs and with seven wickets to spare.
West Chiltington Batting
C Wyatt ct Fletcher b Rydon 4
J MacDonald ct Berry b Wedge-Bull 17
Z.A. Jones ct Fletchr B Rydon 4
S. Collyer b Rydon 0
M. Louw c Smith b Wedge-Bull 0
A. Stclair b Rydon 0
N. North b Prinsloo 34
J. Hodgson c&b Marsh 12
C. Allcot 35*
T. Beeks c Wedge-Bull b Prinsloo 0
C. Clark c Fletcher b Prinsloo 0
Total: 113 all out (30 overs)
Buccanners Bowling
R. Rydon 5-1-9-4
E. Wedge-Bull 4-0-22-2
S. Moules 7-2-24-0
A. Marsh 7-1-32-1
J. Prinsloo 4-1-13-3
G. Smith 3-1-9-0
Buccanners Batting
A. Berry caught c Louw 17
R. Acton ct Wyatt b Allcot 21
J. Marsh lbw b Louw 19
E. Kalidasan 34*
J Prinsloo 1*
Total: 114-3 (21.3 overs)
West Chiltington Bowling
A Allcott 4-1-16-1
T Beeks 2-0-19-0
J Hodgson 5-0-20-0
M Louw 5-0-23-2
C Clark 2.3-0-9-0
S Collyer 1-0-6-0
Buccaneers win by 7 wickets