A Crushing Victory

Saturday 1st XI versus Kingstonian

Putney 2's eventually ran out very easy winners over what proved to be a weak Kingstonian. They batted first and got off to a fine start against Grice and Jones who bowled vim but were well matched by some skillful batting. Ben Brook took some hammer but quickly turned 84-1 off 15 into 84-3 and, having recaptured the momentum, we never let it slip.

Stuart Gillies caught a straightforward catch at midwicket, wisely not heeding the mid-catch advice that it was a sitter and next ball Lincoln Grice took a super sharp catch at point. Though their number five played well, they had little depth in batting and so struggled against a very straight spell from Murad. Lincoln removed their 5 in his second spell. Kingstonian added 33* for their last wicket.

We set off in pursuit but Chris Bray chased a wide one and was well caught first ball at second slip. Mark Wibberly joined Matt Atkins as they set about the Kingstonian bowling, which had no more depth than their batting. But how well M&M played, Mark in particular who in 12 fine fours and two sixes in 79 scored out of a partnership of 118 in only 15 overs. Mark alone scored at 5 an over! One six towards the pavilion hit a passing car which bashed the ball a further 50 yards down the road. Did the driver not return out of fear? It was one of the great Putney innings. Once Mark fell, the momentum carried us home. David Jones scored a straightforward 23* and Matt Atkins displayed once more an extremely straight bat for a fine, measured 77*with 11 fours. Well played, Matt.

Man of the Match: Mark Wibberly



Doug Shaw

July 6, 2009