Bohemians turn the tables on Strongroom
Crouch End, 6/8/2008
Bohemians won by 8 wickets
Strongroom: 233-8 (R.Woolhouse 57, J.Kelly 49)
Bohemians: 234-2 (Kanwar 95*, Bentley 60)
View the Scorecard
We gathered to play on one of the minor pitches at Crouch End on a lovely sunny day. Upon winning the toss Strongroom elected to bat on what was a small ground but a reasonable wicket. Rich Woolhouse (57) and Dave Gower (5) started well but two quick wickets saw the partnership broken and James Claro (9) back in the hutch to the first of two lbws to the impressive White (2-16) who bowled with control and movement. Woolhouse was also trapped in a similar fashion but at 119-3 after 20 overs the platform was set for a commanding total. In the end Strongroom compiled 233-8 with contributions from Jules (49) and Ollie (30) and then Guy (23) and J Baddelley (13 not out). This felt somewhat short on what was a difficult ground to defend and was largely due to the fact that Bohemians kept breaking partnerships at key moments. The Bohemians skipper expressed satisfaction over how his team had dragged themselves back into the game after concerns they may have been chasing 300 in the early overs.
We retired to the pavilion to to take tea whilst watching a touring Sri Lankan side. A good tea was illuminated by a large plate of pineapple and a large selection of cakes and sandwiches were devoured in good time.
Strongroom opened up with Ollie bowling tight lines with some good in-movement and the skipper Ray who was struggling somewhat to find his usual rhythm. Woolhouse was introduced to the attack and got Hayley well caught in the deep by Ray. But wickets were hard to find and the Bohemians continued to accumulate well on this small fast scoring ground. Spin was introduced at both ends with Blumberg and Gower D bowling good tight spells. Gower removed Spratt with a sharp caught and bowled but it was left to Kanwar (95*) and Bentley (60*) to bring the Bohemians home in impressive style. The match went down to the final over but in a well paced chase the Bohemians never let the rate get above 7 an over. Congratulations to the Bohemians for their first victory in this fixture in an excellent game played in a good spirit. We (mostly) all retired to the bar for a well kept pint of IPA or three and we look forward to exacting revenge in the next fixture.
Written By: R.Woolhouse
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