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Stanford
le Hope CC – Match Reports 29th July 2006 Shepherd Neame League
Stanford 190ao (47.3 overs)
Southend on Sea 163ao (56.4 overs) Michael Gray 34, Dion Bryant 30 Wayne Spears 49, Ben Wathen 35 Lee Knight 3-5, Greg Barr 3-16 With Old Southendians losing, Stanford leap-frogged both Southend clubs to take top place in the 3rd division table, with a win that, at various points in the match, looked unlikely. Having been put in, Stanford struggled to make much impression on some tight bowling. Dion Bryant contributed 30 and there were scores in the twenties from Bill Poskitt Jnr, Robert Page and Lee Knight, but no-one was able to push on to make a half-century. Wickets fell regularly, with Zadi, Horne and Heiser all collecting 3 a-piece by the end of the innings. At 114-7, Stanford were staring down the barrel of defeat, but an 8th wicket partnership between skipper Michael Gray (34) and Drew Robinson (21) proved invaluable. They added 69 runs to boost the total to the 190 mark. Given that Southend’s strength lies in their batting, they started the run-chase confidently, putting on 36 for the first wicket. Even when two wickets fell quickly, they had no cause for panic as Wayne Spears (49) and Ben Wathen (35) added a comfortable 80 for the 3rd wicket. At 116-2 with plenty of time left, the visitors stood as clear favourites, but Matt Lewis picked up the dangerous Spears and Southend’s victory surge came to an abrupt halt. Gray turned to two of his young seamers and Lee Knight (3-5) and Greg Barr (3-16) rose to the occasion magnificently, as the visitors tumbled to 163 all out, with no other batsman making double figures. Stanford won by 27 runs. Stanford
20 points Southend on Sea 6 points Stanford II
190ao (44.3 overs)
Southend on Sea II 194-3 (32.5 overs) Mark Knight 49, Dean Hitchcock 32 M.Heiser 82no, M.Hill 59 D. Johnson 4-68 The 2nd team fixture at Southchurch Park had a similar look in the first innings to the 1st XI match, but a markedly different outcome. Stanford began well, with Mark Knight (49) and skipper Dean Hitchcock (32) adding 64 for the first wicket. Knight also added 50 for the 3rd wicket with Sean Barker, before being run out in the unluckiest fashion, as the bowler deflected a drive back onto the stumps. This seemed to un-nerve the rest of the team as a cluster of wickets tumbled. It took a good 8th wicket partnership between Chopper Truong (23no) and James Drain (24) to boost the total to a defendable level. Here the resemblance to the
first team game ended abruptly. Southend openers Heiser (82no) and Hill (59)
slammed a big century stand to end the match as a contest. Sam Spooner picked up
a couple of consolation wickets, but the home team rushed to a 7 wicket win. Stanford
II 7 points Southend on Sea II 18
points Epping III
207-9 (52 overs)
Stanford III 211-7 (41 overs) T.Moore 69no, S.Hyde 49 Stuart McInnes 122 Matt Higgins 3-35 Stand-in skipper Stuart McInnes hit a magnificent ton to almost single-handedly secure a win for his patched-up side. John Charman (23) and Jon Fuller (20) had taken the score to 62 with their 2nd wicket partnership, as Stanford chased down the home team’s 207-9, but from there on it was all about McInnes as he flayed the ball to all parts of Epping Forest. He fell going for the winning runs, but Stanford had enough in reserve to clinch the victory. Earlier, Epping had used their full 52 overs to post a total just over the 200 mark. Two big half-century partnerships were the key for them - the first for the 3rd wicket between Piller (32) and Hyde (49) and another for the 5th wicket, as Hyde was joined by Moore (69no). The young Stanford seam attack all acquitted themselves well, with Matt Higgins (3-35), Ian Sanderson (2-25) and Adam Knight (2-13) all chipping in, the latter picking up his wickets in successive balls. Stanford won by 3 wickets. Stanford III 18 points Epping III 11points Stanford IV
177-7 (52overs)
Hornchurch V 139-5 (45 overs) Robin Monji 59, Simon Rodway 31 A.Randles 46, C.Jacob 35 Jon Key 30no Stanford’s 4th string once again showed their resilience as they had the better of this draw with Hornchurch. Robin Monji (59), anchored the innings, after Adrian Page (24) was out to a careless shot. Once again the lower middle-order applied themselves as first Simon Rodway (31) and then Jon Key (30no) supported Monji. The difficulty scoring was mostly due to the fact that the Council failed to prepare a pitch for the game and the teams were forced to use the previous week’s one, so 177 was reasonable in the circumstances. Hornchurch also struggled as
Page and Laura Knight bowled tightly. Opener Randles (46) plugged away until he
was removed by Colin Knight (2-11), but the only other major contribution came
from Jacob (35). Horns seemed strangely reluctant to go for a target that was
more than reasonableand the game petered out into a draw as Stanford crowded the
bat. Stanford IV 8 points Hornchurch
V 4 points Sunday Friendly (40 overs) Herongate 155ao (34.1 overs)
Stanford 159-5 (30.3 overs) Manesh Luthra 46, Neil Patrick 25 Lee Knight 45no, Greg Barr 39 Mark Knight 3-26 Stanford cantered to a comfortable win in this Sunday friendly, although there were a few alarms on the way. Herongate batted first and looked to be heading for a very small total, until Manesh Luthra (46) and Neil Patrick (25) combined to give the score some respectability. The middle order had caved in to the wily medium pace of Mark Knight (3-26), with skipper Lee Knight and Sam Spooner picking up a couple of cheap wickets each to finish things off. Stanford opener Greg Barr (39)
watched a couple of wickets fall before he joined forces with James Drain (27)
to add 55 for the 4th wicket. A flurry of wickets saw the Knights
united as son Lee (45no) and dad Mark (28no) added 51 for the 6th
wicket to secure a 5 wicket win. |