Gardeners wrestle victory out of Strongroom's grasp
Toddington Manor, 8/2/2008
Gardeners won by 8 wickets
Strongroom: 184-5 (J.Kelly 59)
Gardeners: 185-8 (M.Richards 48, T.Brocklehurst 42)
View the Scorecard
Terrible rain on arrival, waited until 3pm to start 35 overs match. Dave P won toss and chose to bat. Jules and James Schneider comfortable opening partnership. Oliver Moore joining Jules to take the score on and build an excellent platform. Slight wobble after Jules dismissed for excellent 50, though most of the middle order chipped in with useful contributions, marshalled by Dave Gower [33*]. 70 scored off last 10 overs to take total to admirable 184-7.
Usual solid, dependable Toddington tea.
Gardeners off to good start after Mike Richards dropped early on. Didn't get away, but built handy platform. 90'ish-1 after 20 overs. Ujjal bowled superb opening spell. Bully and Joe Rafman occasionally probing. Paddy struggling after long lay-off. Breakthrough by impressive Oliver. Top order soon removed, leading perhaps to Strongroom complacency and over-attacking. Gardeners needed about 50 off last 6 overs and Strongroom began to lose control against some valiant, urgent hitting. Gardeners' keeper playing especially handy knock. All bowlers towards end of innings took a bit of a battering and Gardeners eased home with 5 balls to spare. Shocking really. Strongroom should have been able to defend their score even without managing to take last couple of wickets. Probably missed eleventh fielder and might have approached closing overs differently if given chance again. Pitch perhaps easier to hit on later in day (but Gardeners bowlers had to deal with slippery ball earlier). Oliver and Ujjal bowled magnificently and did not deserve to be on a team failing to defend respectable total. Still, a good, exciting game that ended in glorious evening sunshine. Strongroom have unearthed some promising young talent in Ujjal and Joe.
Written By: D.Gower
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