Southwell 1st XI v Wollaton 2nd XI

As we reach the back end of the season both Southwell and Wollaton had all to play for as they met in this all important clash. With holiday season kicking in over the next few weeks it was clear that Southwell needed to make the most of the available players and so fielded another strong team. Demonstrating, once again, his excellent tossing abilities, Fryer won the toss and decided to put Wollaton into bat with the knowledge that Rimmer was having to leave early.

As has happened so often this season, Rainbow and Sprawson opened up well for Southwell dismissing the potentially dangerous Wollaton top 4 for just 31. Rimmer and Fryer both taking sharp catches behind the stumps in the process as the new ball found variable bounce and movement. It was clear early on that any shot that pierced the infield found its way to the boundary and the Wollaton middle order attempted to make the most of this. Stanley, however, was brought on and immediately made an impact picking up 2 in 2 balls in his first over. With the attacking field set for the hattrick ball Stanley ran in and successfully bowled a leg side wide but finished his spell later on with excellent figures of 5 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets for 12.

Kahn and Youngman batted very sensibly for Wollaton as the runs began to dry up with Wright and Rimmer brought on to apply pressure. A very good partnership, however, took Wollaton from 56/6 up to 133/7 before Rimmer finally made the breakthrough with an excellent turning delivery to bowl Kahn. This brought Riaz to the crease who took no time to settle in, dismissing consecutive boundaries as Rainbow and Sprawson were brought on in an attempt to finish off the Wollaton innings. Big hitting and some missed chances saw Wollaton extend their total to 207/9 from their allotted overs. The entire blame for this comeback can be put to Tim Green who, inexcusably decided to state 'I'd be surprised if we were here for the full 48 overs...'.

With a gettable target and the knowledge that runs would come easily if you stuck around, Green and newly promoted pinch hitter Rimmer walked out to open the Southwell innings. The risk failed to pay off as Southwell were quickly reduced to 9/3 as Riaz and Sarwar continued on from their destructive batting to take Rimmer, Ogrizovic and then Green. As Southwell had seen in the Wollaton innings, the new ball was causing problems and the Southwell innings looked on the verge of an embarrassing collapse. Rainbow and Hemstock, however batted calmly and with patience to rebuild the Southwell innings. As new bowlers were introduced, both batsmen began to speed up and reached their respective 50's in near consecutive overs. Some power hitting from Rainbow and excellent legside clips from Hemstock propelled Southwell into a very promising position with 10 overs to go.

Finally, Hemstock's legs gave way as one 2 too many was taken and he was run out for an hard fought 75. Foster was promoted above Fryer but found himself quickly back in the pavilion as Riaz came back on in a last attempt from Wollaton to save the game. Fryer joined Rainbow at the crease and put away a couple of nice boundaries before being expertly caught off his own bowling by Riaz again. Rainbow was desperately looking for the strike, leading to Behl also being run out and by the time Sprawson joined him in the center Southwell needed just 6 to win from the last 2 overs. Credit must go where credit is due and the two Wollaton bowlers bowled the last two overs exceptionally well, Southwell struggling to put bat on ball leaving just 4 to win from the final ball. Despite his heroic efforts throughout the innings, Rainbow just couldn't find one more boundary and skewed to square leg for one. Wollaton picked up the tightest winning draw and 17 points, leaving Southwell disappointed having come so close with 10 points.

A vital few weeks lie ahead as Southwell continue to hunt for promotion with game coming up against middle and top of the league teams. Availability will be key but spirits are still high as Southwell find themselves the only team in the league to have lost only one game. Bring on Radcliffe again next week!