Corse and Staunton v Cam

CAM fell eight runs short in their chase of 181 as a below average batting performance saw them come off second best away to Corse and Staunton.

Having been asked to field, Cam made an early breakthrough with George Dolling finding enough movement in the pitch to clean bowl Morgan for 5. Corse & Staunton began to build a steady partnership through Cox (26) and Goolden (28) before Ben Holloway made his mark on the game as he took an instinctive one-handed catch off his own bowling to dismiss Cox.

Great fielding in the deep by Tom Hancock saw the new batsman run out as he attempted a questionable second run. Holloway’s relentless spell continued as he removed three more batsman in a miserly spell of bowling which saw him take 4 wickets for 12 runs in his 9 overs. Pete Hall went wicket less despite keeping things tight during the middle overs as Corse & Staunton attempted to rebuild their innings.

Alex Ballard was brought into the attack and removed Phillips for 11 before later having the mainstay of the Corse & Staunton innings, Garner (44), stumped by Jake Dolbear as the batsman chased after a wideish delivery. Western, returning to the attack after his opening spell, clean bowled the number 10 batsman but Cam were unable to take the final wicket with Preston unbeaten on 21 as the home side reached 181-9.

Cam would have been confident of chasing what appeared a below par total on a pitch with few demons in it, but made a poor start as they lost a cluster of early wickets with Newman, Hall, Holloway and Dolbear falling cheaply to leave Cam on 45-4. Opening batsman Tom Deakin played patiently and was ably supported by skipper Adam Holloway as they added 48 for the fifth wicket.

The fall of Deakin’s wicket for 31, caught behind as he worked the ball down the leg-side, sparked a mini collapse as Western and Ballard departed shortly after, as Cam continued to edge balls to the waiting slip cordon.

Dolling joined Holloway at the crease as they attempted to build a telling partnership to regain a foothold in the game. The pair kept the scoreboard ticking as they added 38 before Holloway fell to a plucky one-handed catch at point. This piece of good fortune appeared to inspire the fielding side as Dolling fell in the next over for 19 to leave just the final pair of Hancock and Chandler with the challenging task of knocking off the remaining 37 runs.

Chandler decided that attack was the best approach as he targeted the boundaries with an array of powerfully hit shots. With Corse & Staunton fearing the worst, they took the final wicket of Chandler for 19 to leave Cam an agonising 8 runs short of their target.