Beechwood won the toss and elected to bat first. This was a timed match.
Freeman and Makin opened the batting for Beechwood and started solidly; Freeman in particular was timing the ball well and struck several delightful boundaries. With a half century stand in sight Freeman was bowled by and Warner came in. Soon after Makin was caught attempting the pull shot and Beechwood's decent start had been checked.
Cowell joined Warner who was punishing some fairly friendly bowling. Cowell was next to go caught attempting to cut. Hill came in and quickly opened his account with a 4 over mid wicket. Warner had moved swiftly to 40 and Beechwood were looking at a total in excess of 200 before he was bowled off an inside edge and Cooksley joined Hill. Hill had just got himself in when he missed a straight one and was bowled, Cooksley soon followed after losing his stumps having proved that his most deadly shot is the one he doesn't hit that goes over the wicket-keeper for 4.
Robinson was next up but soon departed the same way. Morton struck one boundary before he was caught behind and all of a sudden the Beechwood innings had lost momentum and a score of 180 was probably all they could hope for. All this time Bates was trying to play his shots but was soon caught at mid off. Woodward and Dewes were at the crease but with 3 balls still remaining Woodward decided Beechwood had enough runs and was stumped charging down the pitch. Beechwood finished on 185 all out.
Bates and Cowell opened the bowling for Beechwood and both started well. Cowell soon removed M Allen cleaned bowled. Dee at the other end wasn't looking to run many and it was clear he would be brutal on anything short.
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Woodward replaced Bates and soon picked up a wicket bowling Stull. Bates was soon in trouble when he attempted to field a ball at mid off that hit a divot and hit him in the face, forcing him to leave the field for some running repairs.
Beechwood were making it hard for themselves having dropped Dee twice (Makin and Dewes 50p) and he in turn was making them pay having hit 67 out of a total of 74. Hill had replaced Cowell but had trouble finding his length and was soon replaced by Cooksley who didn't fare much better. Woodward finally removed Dee, Warner taking the catch just in front of square. Dewes replaced Woodward and he in turn replaced Cooksley at the other end. Woodward then bowled McDermot and we had a game on but with Rana and Wilde comfortably keeping up with and even reducing the 5 an over run rate the game again appeared to be slipping away from Beechwood.
Dewes made the breakthrough, clean bowling Rana with a ball that came back off the seam. Woodward took a comfortable caught and bowled to get rid of Wild. Both Woodward and Dewes then bowled expensive overs to hand the initiative back to Gravesend. Bates (having been patched up!) replaced Dewes and Woodward managed to get his radar back in working order as Beechwood continued to press.
Gravesend needed 14 to win with 4 wickets left but Bates then picked up 2 quick wickets (J Allen and Skye) courtesy of two good catches from Dewes. Woodward removed Eastwood LBW with a great Yorker and with just 5 runs needed Woodward took the catch off Bates's bowling to complete a remarkable victory for Beechwood.
Thanks to Gravesend for a cracking game of cricket that was played in an excellent spirit and congratulations to Ashley Woodward on his 5 wicket haul. Team: Bates, Cooksley, Cowell, Dewes, Freeman, Hill, Makin, Morton, Robinson, Warner, Woodward (c) |
