Well we left Sherston on what seemed like a very pleasant spring day. But by the time we had reached the Oakridge ground, this year without to many detours, it could only be described as a two jumper day.

After a very convincing win the previous week confidence was high even after we had lost the toss again. Sherston were asked to bat first, with a combination of luck, lusty blows and even some solid defence Sherston’s openers put on 30 odd before they were both back in the pavilion. This left Chris Lovell and James Harmer to rebuild. The pitch was very different from the week before and Lovell and Harmer found scoring tough. Harmer began to find some timing to get the scoreboard moving. Lovell departed for a dogged 16. Bringing Matt Goodwin to the crease, Harmer and Goodwin put together a very positive fourth wicket partnership before the captain was eventually out going for a very well put together 60. Ollie Moore and Goodwin then had a very enterprising last few overs involving a lot of hard running. This brought the Sherston total to a very respectable 180; with Goodwin finishing 50 not out.

Sherston started their defence of the total knowing that Oakridge’s batting was not too deep so early wickets would but us very much in control. With a very strong wind and an unfamiliar slope our bowlers struggled early on. Sherston had a few half chances which they did not manage to take and some might say Oakridge had more than their fair share of luck.

Heads had started to slightly drop when Ollie Moore was asked to come back on. He had found his rhythm and when he dismissed Smith for 91 there was a collective renewed belief. Andy Pegg was backing up Moore (2-27) from the other end with not much luck. But with Pegg‘s spell finished the captain was looking for someone to step up and drag us over the line. Charlie Green, one of the clubs “senior pros” was happy to take on the responsibility. The game came down to the last ball with Oakridge need 4 to win. The field was set deep as Green (2-32) ran into bowl, there was a clean strike down the ground which Moore chased round to cut off from the boundary, Oakridge were coming back for the third, to tie the game. Green collected the ball with the batsman not even in the frame, but he did not trust his legs to cover the couple of passes to take off the bails. So opted for a diving throw which HIT and Sherston won the game! The after game discussion on the decision to throw the stumps down will remain in the dressing room, but I will say that the fines session might have been very different had he missed.

I would also like to give special mention to Will Roberts a new member to the club who even though he had never kept wicket before put his hands up to cover as the few people who had kept before were unable to keep due to a variety of injuries.  I would also like to thank Matt Goodwin for taking over for the last 20 overs despite an injured finger.

Well done all 2 from 2 a very good start to the season.

The full scorecard can be found here: http://sherstonmagna.play-cricket.com/website/results/2433351