Cam slump after dismal display (From Gazette Series)

Cam slump after dismal display

A STOIC batting performance from Upton opener Tony Sadler put an end to Cam's excellent unbeaten run on Saturday.

Sadler made just 30 out of a total of 142-6 but carried his bat through the innings to guide his side to victory.

In truth, Cam only had themselves to blame as they batted sloppily before their change bowlers failed to match the standard set by openers Chris Livall and Matt Tipper.

Even captain Pete Hall fell below his usual high standards in the field as he dropped Sadler in the slips when he had only four.

Perhaps it was just a case of the luck evening itself out as Hall was himself dropped in the opening over of the match.

However, he capitalised only to the tune of 17 runs, a score matched by Adam Holloway and two more than Scott Kalus accumulated as the innings stumbled unconvincingly on.

Sloppy dismissal followed sloppy dismissal with the wicket of Tipper (7) - spooning a juicy full toss straight to mid-wicket - summing up the innings. Only a ninth wicket partnership in excess of 40 from Guy Hutchinson (10*) and the big-hitting Chris Livall (25*) got the visitors up to a respectable 140-8.

Upton openers Sadler and Barnard found runs hard to come by early on as Livall and Tipper bowled superbly.

Livall conceded just one scoring shot in his first five overs while Tipper induced a number of false shots, one of which was uncharacteristically spilled by Hall.

For Upton, Barnard (17), Marment (14) and Bick (21) all kept on top of the run rate, while Livall led the way for Cam with a brace of wickets.

However, at the fall of the fourth wicket, John Rowles took Hutchinson and Hall to task with a quick-fire 33 that put the home side well in charge. Rowles holed out to Tipper off Tom Deakin with the winning line in sight, but despite a further wicket from a run out Upton made it to 142-6 with more than five overs to spare.

Cam: P Hall (capt, 17 runs & 4.5-2-0-26), D Cotterell (3 & 1-0-0-9), A Holloway (17), G Brown (9), S Kalus (15), R Hall (9), M Tipper (7 & 11-2-1-29), G Hutchinson (10* & 9-1-1-33), T Deakin (1 & 2-0-1-13), C Livall (25* & 12-5-2-26), J Pitt (wk).