What a Weekend for The Greens!
‘Tag Team’ Slam Norwich to the Mat!
The only place to start with this match is to reflect on the incredible destructive batting of Troy Allan. In just 41 balls he took the Norwich bowling attack apart to amass an incredible 82 not out, including four fours and eight sixes. It was the highlight of an emphatic 149 run victory for Aldborough.
Inserted on a wet pitch, Aldborough started well with Cooper and Botwright looking to take the attack to the visitors. Lester though removed the left hander early on bringing the in-form Paul Reeve to the crease. Reeve and Botwright then forged a significant partnership that laid foundations for the fireworks later on. Botwright was the dominant player in the partnership of 118 in109 balls and he moved smoothly past 50 looking well set for a big century. His final score of 88 was quick and bright and consisted of eight fours and four sixes and he never looked in trouble. When he was run out for not grounding his bat Reeve took on the mantle and although Cannon fell leg before playing round a straight ball, this did not effect the teams growing impetus. Reeve moved onto 85 with a series of boundaries and was out caught laying end to an 80 run partnership with Allan in less than 10 over’s. This was actually a timely wicket because Allan was joined by the huge hitting of Kevin Bacon. The duo, like a tag team partnership, appeared to feed off each other and smashed the ball to every corner of the green and its surrounding houses. In 26 balls they added 50 runs with Bacon contributing 27 in 16 and Allan going past his 50 with two huge sixes. Despite Bacon’s dismissal, Bob Flannagan helped the cause and left the big South African on strike to take the team past 300 for the first time in ten years.
In reply the response never materialised. Dingle and Perry-Warnes put good pressure on the opponents and captain Botwright was able to attack for pretty much the entire game. Wickets were shared around with Bacon and Perry Warnes both taking three each. Flannagan and Allan also chipped in and with a wicket a piece. Perry-Warnes looked aggressive and this was a good sign in preparation for next week’s vital match away to Great Melton. Norwich, despite a rear guard from Rob Lester towards the end, folded quite easily and were eventually out for 155 in the 37th over.
Nail-biter at Hingham!
Aldborough ‘A’ followed up their emphatic win of the previous week with a somewhat closer match at Hingham in what proved to be a hard fought and tantalising game. On a wicket that was always going to favour the bowlers, combined with a very slow outfield, this was unlikely to be a high scoring game. Put in to bat first, Aldborough openers Matt Skinner and Charlie Mack started solidly, building a useful platform until Skinner missed a straight one, being bowled in the 14th over with the score on 36. This brought Tony Fell to the wicket who kept the scoreboard ticking over until, when pushing for a second run, Mack was run out. Skipper Robinson then joined Fell and between them they established a useful partnership of 42 before Fell played around a straight one. Mike Cramp then helped to keep the runs coming, but even with wickets in hand the hoped-for final push never really materialised, not helped by Robinson dragging a wide one on to his stumps with five overs to go. In the end Aldborough managed to creep up to 139 for 7.
In reply, Aldborough’s opening bowlers, Tom Ash and Ben Farrow started well, restricting the batters to less than three an over and Ash taking two wickets in his first spell. Then with Ray Smith bowling Mottram with his first ball of the day, Hingham looked to be in some trouble at 27 for 3. However, captain Dan Key steadied the ship and with good support from the lower order, Hingham edged ever closer to the target. However, the Aldborough bowlers stuck to their task well, backed up by a direct hit from Farrow to run out Guy. The introduction of Charlie Mack to the bowling attack saw wickets continue to fall. But even with one wicket left, Hingham still looked capable of reaching their goal, until Farrow got a well deserved wicket bowling Dicks, and Mack cleaned up Cooper with the home side tantalisingly close.