Hillingdon I v Amersham CC Saturday 1st X1 on Sat 13 Aug 2005 at
Amersham CC Won 6 Wkts
Amersham increased their lead at the top of Division 2B with a win over basement side Hillingdon. It helped that Amersham were the only side to get a result as all other matches were affected by rain.
Hillingdon won the toss and elected to bat first. After being hit for 4 off the first ball, Duncan Ward removed the opener with the 3rd ball by getting one to nip back and take middle.
Ward struck again in the third over by bowling the other opener and Hillingdon were 6 - 2 after three overs. Ward was ably supported by Brad Holt who was rewarded for his efforts in his 6th over as Huntley nicked one to Robertson behind the stumps. Hillingdon were 20 - 3 as Amersham were keen to beat the rain and chalk up a win. Hillingdon then put up some resistance with Seymour and Akram slowly making progress. Atkinson then struck his first of 6 wickets by bowling Akram. Amersham continued to apply pressure with accurate bowling from Atkinson and Rajabali. Atkinson struck again as he took a low return catch of his bowling. Then B Akram and Z Akram decided the best policy was to hit out and managed to flay the occasional ball to the boundary in a desperate attempt to set a challenging target. Both fell to Atkinson LBW after they had pushed the score close to 150. The return of Holt saw him take a wicket with his first ball with a fine diving catch by Chris Owen at slip. Atkinson soon wrapped up the innings as the rain started to fall ending up with 6 -24 from 13.4 overs.
At tea the heavens opened and Amersham were left to sit out the rain hoping that it would stop long enough to knock off the required runs. After about an hour the rain eased and Amersham set about the run chase. Amersham lost an early wicket as Rob Viney got one that jumped off a good length and was well taken at mid wicket. Rich Stephenson and Chris Owen looked to push on and finish the game quickly as the rain looked to roll in again. Rich Stephenson punished anything slightly off line and Amersham reached 73 off 10 overs before Chris Owen (20) was out. Ollie Haddock joined Stephenson and continued the chase for quick runs as Amersham looked to beat the weather to secure a win. They added 53 before Stephenson was caught for a quickfire 65. Haddock soon followed for 29 and Amersham were 137 - 4. It was left to Andy Robertson and Paul Weston to finish off the job with Weston cutting the ball for 4 to win the game as the rain started to come down again.
Duncan Ward
Hillingdon I Batting
150 for 10
Amersham CC Saturday 1st X1 Bowling
Amersham CC Saturday 1st X1 Batting
152 for 4
Hillingdon I Bowling