Nonington

Match Report

With new covers at Nonington, the pitch is full of runs, and the Straggler upper order set off smartly, with Archie Hammond (38) and Simon Allport (41) looking comfortable. However, with the pace off the ball, and Simon run out at the non-striker’s end, the innings stalled. Charlie McLeod and Graham Tyndall ran furiously in the heat to keep the board ticking, but couldn’t seem to find the boundary. And then came Hugo. With 5 overs left, and a modest target in prospect, Hugo smote mightily, reaching a final ball half century, having lost 3 balls among the 5 sixes in the woods. 243 for 6 now seemed enough.

The fantastic Nonington tea had slowed the Straggler fielding, and overthrows undermined the pressure being applied by Hugo and Ed Prest. The openers were racing on at over 7 an over, looking very comfortable, and a half century was swiftly notched up. Enter Archie with a well disguised full toss, and the door was open. Graham squeezed at one end; Archie took three more; the run flow dried up; Owen Moelwyn Hughes’ lack of pace was completely unplayable, going for a miserly 17 from 8 overs. Chris Villiers, making a rare appearance, wrapped things up with a signature leg spinner turning square to give Charlie a fourth stumping. All out for 137.