Match Scorecard

Match Report

Match Report

A ten-man Wooburn side suffered at the hands of a powerful I.C.I. batting line up, but battled back to earn a draw in this Thames Valley League match. Chasing an improbable 255 for victory, Stuart Savage\‘s 75, well supported by Rob Rogers, carried his side to safety.



I.C.I. won the toss and decided to bat in good batting conditions. They got off to a flier, with every batsman intent on hitting the ball out of the ground. Tim Waxman suffered most, without bowling particularly badly. He did eventually get rid of Inderjit, but Andy Malcombe and Steve Mitchell continued the assault.



I.C.I. reached 105-3 after 15 overs, before Wooburn removed Mitchell. A tiring Malcombe then eased up, and Wooburn achieved a certain level of control for a while. Malcombe eventually fell for 83, but this only brought Ian Rance to wicket. Rance started carefully, but once in, blasted a rapid 59. His dismissal, to a one-handed catch by Waxman on the long-on boundary, heralded the declaration at 254-6 after 44.1 overs. Rob Rogers was Wooburn\‘s most successful bowler with 3-81.



The Wooburn innings started badly. They quickly slipped to 27-3, but Richard Barker and Savage stabilised things for a while,adding 32 for the fourth wicket. After Barker departed, Rogers continued the resistance in a stand of 91 for the fifth wicket. He finally went to Malcombe after scoring a valuable 27, but his dismissal started a mini-collapse with three wickets falling with no addition to the score. Udi Verma returned to remove Savage and Phil Clarke, leaving Wooburn on 150-7.



With six overs still remaining, and only young Ben Sturgess to come, everything rested on the experienced Tim Waxman and Pete Harper. By this time, Malcombe was a spent force, and the Wooburn pair resisted stoutly against the pace of Verma. A couple of spirited blows from Waxman came close to giving Wooburn an extra batting point, but they were ultimately happy to close on 172-7.