An under-strength Wooburn Narkovians 2nd XI slipped to a fourth successive defeat against an over-strength, almost unrecognisable Maidenhead & Bray 3rd XI, but the Narks went down fighting in the gloom at Wooburn Park. A brave Wooburn effort took the game into the 98th over before the visitors eventually eked out the winning runs.
Stand-in skipper Graham Dare lost an important toss, and Wooburn found themselves inserted on the greenest of greentops. In a bid to avoid relegation, Bray had recruited their 2nd XI attack for this match, 45 of Wooburn’s 52 overs being delivered by regular 2nd XI seamers Hussain and Amin. Hussain, in particular, proved a real handful, seaming the ball prodigously at a sharp medium pace. He struck a crucial early blow when he removed Derek Milsom. Alan Cuthbert and Rob Smith took the score to 39, but the introduction of Amin triggered a middle order collapse that saw the Narks tumble to 50-4.
Imran Ishaq and Graham Dare looked to take the attack to the bowlers, Dare striking the ball cleanly before departing for 20. Imran now went on the attack, but required several helping hands from the butter-fingered Maidenhead fielders, in making an important 57. Graham Milsom offered stubborn support at the other end. An entertaining partnership between Arran Shearer and Rob Rogers finally took the Wooburn total passed 150 and up to a challenging 170, giving the Wooburn bowlers something to defend.
Maidenhead & Bray’s batting had also been bolstered from earlier in the season. Faizal opened up with a quickfire 43, but the visitors also found it tough going. Dare bowled a fine spell for the home team and was rewarded with two good wickets. Vaia and Brooks then rode their luck, Vaia surviving two chances in a hard hit 48, Rogers the unfortunate bowler.
A fine spell from Wahleed Hussain brought the wicket of Wells, but he suffered at the hands of Vaia and his figures did not reflect the quality of his bowling. When Wooburn eventually got rid of Brooks and Vaia, Guest came in to strike two sixes over long on and seal the victory for Maidenhead & Bray.
Despite this defeat, Wooburn somehow remain 24 points clear in 2nd place, while Maidenhead & Bray’s relegation battle looks a forlorn one, as they are still 49 points away from safety. At the end of the match, despite their win, the visitors executed an almost perfect evacuation, not one of their team staying for a drink, indeed several did not even take the time to change. Disappointing.
