Tiddington 2nd XI stretched their lead at the top of Thames Valley League Division 3, with a hard-fought four-wicket win over fellow title contenders Wooburn Narkovians. Tiddington\s accurate bowling and sharp fielding was ultimately the difference between the two sides, although Wooburn made them fight every inch of the way.
Batting first, Wooburn struggled against Tiddington\s opening attack. The bowlers quickly settled into their rhythm, with the left-arm pace of Pitt-Payne proving particularly effective. After angling the ball across the right-handers in his first couple of overs, he suddenly produced a big inswinger, to which Rob Smith had no answer. At the other end, Dave Rogers, desperately trying to increase the scoring rate, fenced at a wide one from White and was caught behind the wicket. At 25-2 off 16 overs, Wooburn were in some trouble.
The Cuthbert brothers, Paul and Alan, now came together. They put together a partnership of 60 but, well though they played, they never managed to really get on top of the bowling. With the total at 84, Paul Cuthbert tried to cut a ball which bounced a bit more than expected, and edged to the keeper. This brought the experienced Jeff Morris to the wicket, and with overs beginning to run out, he decided to try and force the pace against the off-spin of Maule. Having survived a stumping chance, he was caught in two minds against Maule\s quicker ball, and given out lbw as the ball hurried on.
Alan Cuthbert followed soon after, bowled by another Pitt-Payne inswinger for a polished 44. John Saunders, back in his familiar middle-order position, struck bravely for his 25, before he too fell to Pitt-Payne. Matt Curtis failed to dig out a yorker, and Chris Sullivan unselfishly preished in the chase for quick runs, leaving Wooburn precariously placed at 146-8. With eight overs remaining, Kevin Czakan joined Phil Day. In a stirring ninth wicket stand, the big men applied themselves well to add a further 42 before Day was bowled by the last ball of the innings for 26. Wooburn finished up with 188-9, and with the wicket showing signs of uneven bounce, and offering some turn to the spinners, they had managed to haul themselves back into the game.
The Tiddington innings started steadily against the pace of Czakan and Day. Czakan went past the edge of McKinney\s bat on several occasions, and also troubled Stoakes, but he struggled to find a consistent line and length. Having survived the early overs, the Tiddington openers settled in and reached 51 before McKinney attempted to cut a ball from Day that was a little to close to him, and succeeded only in dragging the ball onto his stumps.
Morris replaced Czakan and removed Stoakes, caught at short third man by Day. Morris\ off-breaks gave all the batsmen problems, and he threatened to take the game away from Tiddington. However, he did not have the support at the other end, where Tiddington found runs easier to come by. Morris removed Maule and Manning, and Czakan returned to bowl Brooks, as the game swung Wooburn\s way. White, who had been rendered virtually strokeless by Morris, eventually opened up, only to be well caught by Rob Rogers on the deep extra cover boundary.
At 134-6, the match was in the balance, as Tiddington\s captain, Whitfield, joined Gibbons. Tiddington\s seventh wicket pair chipped away at their target. In a last throw of the dice, Rob Rogers replaced Czakan to from an all-spin attack with Morris, but the ploy failed. Whitfield, who had adopted a very positive attitude from the start, finally broke the shackles Morris had placed on the Tiddington batsmen, hitting him straight for six, and then sweeping for four. It was all over for Wooburn, and Tiddington got home with three overs to spare.
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