West Chiltington & Thakeham (232-8, 35 overs) beat Buccaneers (222-7, 35 overs) by ten runs
The Buccs enjoyed another fantastic day out at West Chiltington & Thakeham on Sunday 21 July, losing by 10 runs in a high-scoring 35-over match.
Fletcher won the toss and elected to field on a quick pitch with a good covering of grass. That decision appeared initially to have been a wise one, with club president Rob Rydon and Ludo Milne bowling with decent pace and craft. Rob bowled through and finished with figures of seven overs, three maidens, one wicket for 13 runs – “not bad for a 66-year-old” per the comment from a spectator (NB, our President is yet to turn 60).
Ludo took one wicket in his opening spell but should have had Reimoser who went on to make 40, Fletcher dropping an edge diving in front of first slip and Berry unable to hold onto the rebound. Spinners Archie Marsh and Simon Leefe were accurate and economical, and the Buccs found themselves in a decent position at drinks with WC&T on 69-3 after 17 overs.
The second half of the first innings could not have been more different and could not have gone much worse for the Buccs (see Fig 1, Worm), with Gillespie (83 from 78 balls) and Tatchell (64 from 29 balls) smashing boundaries seemingly at will. Multiple cricket balls were lost into the houses and gardens at the windmill end of the ground, Hobbs and Okines the recipients of some particularly harsh treatment. Berry was brought into the attack and did manage to claim the scalps of both set batsmen, but the damage had largely been done. Buccs required 233 to win at a shade quicker than 6.5 runs per over after a wonderful tea of sandwiches, honey sausages, cake and beer.
The Buccs innings stuttered at the outset despite a healthy smattering of extras, and we rather quickly found ourselves at 41-4. Enter Jeremy Milne, armed with a nearly-new bat and a willing accomplice in the form of Simon Leefe. Jez rolled back the years with some clean striking, including one particularly handsome straight six into the sightscreen at the longer end of the ground. Simon, as ever, found a way to make a score and encouraged Jeremy into some surprisingly quick running between the wickets.
Unfortunately, the Chilts ground fielding was some of the best we can expect to see this season and the required rate began to climb as Buccs were squeezed in the middle overs. Jeremy and Simon fell in quick succession after their partnership of 101, but the rate was getting away from us as the youthful Chilts outfit continued to cut off boundaries. Marsh (20 from 13 balls) and Rydon (39* from 23) gave us hope with some enterprising hitting, but tight death bowling saw us fall just short.
Further beers were taken as the players enjoyed some rare evening sunshine on the pavilion decking.
The full scorecard is available here: https://wct.play-cricket.com/website/results/6552492
Figure 1:
