West of England Premier League
Glos/Wilts Division
Rockhampton 189-9 beat Tewkesbury 182 ao by seven runs
ROCKHAMPTON won a nail-biter at Tewkesbury on Saturday to remain top of the table but it wasn’t an easy afternoon for The Rams.
Having lost the toss and being asked to bat, Rockhampton got off to a pretty solid start with openers Wakefield and Will Tyler moving the score onto 40-0 from the first ten overs with very little alarm.
It wasn’t until the introduction of New Zealander Michael Rae and off spinner John Allcoat that Tewkesbury managed to start controlling the game, dismissing Tyler and Wakefield both for 22 and in combination, bowling their 20 overs straight through with a combined figure of 5-39 to leave Rockhampton on 80-5 from 30 overs.
Spence (18) battled hard without ever really getting going but in batting for a long period of time, with help from Perry (14), managed to set up a position for a late onslaught from the tail. Willoughby (21), McCabe (15 not out) and number eleven, James Hancox (17 not out) all batted superbly and somehow managed to get 50 from the final five overs to allow Rockhampton to post a competitive 189/9 from their fifty overs.
Tewkesbury’s response got off to a very solid and an almost identical start to that of Rockhampton’s innings with the score progressing onto 40-0 from 11 overs.
Sam Nichols was introduced into the attack and he was able to get the crucial breakthrough, a well-deserved wicket having continuously beaten the bat, he managed to find the edge and a stunning one-handed catch in the gully by Jamie Wakefield. 40-0 soon became 85-3 at drinks as Dave McCabe (1-23) trapped the number three in front of middle and Hancox (1-21) had the opener crucially caught at cover by Matt Tyler.
The game swung firmly back into Tewkesbury’s favour as the fourth wicket partnership past fifty and at 130/3 the match looked over.
Spence then turned back to Wakefield for a burst and it turned out to a game changing decision as he struck immediately, thanks to an unbelievable one-handed catch by Hancox, followed by an lbw the very next ball and all of a sudden Wakefield was on a hat-trick and at 130-5 it was very much game on again.
Wakefield soon struck again and his ten over spell of 3-30 had turned the whole match on it’s head. At the other end, off spinner Chris Perry (2-31) managed to grab two important wickets and in tandem with the returning Willoughby the situation was 20 to win with two wickets remaining.
Importantly for Tewkesbury, in Brookes they still had a recognised batsman at one end but due to good, disciplined bowling and clever changes in the field, he was rarely able to face, allowing Willoughby to clean bowl the number ten and then with just eight needed to win, he took a smart called and bowled off the number eleven, leaving Brookes stranded on 38 not out and a miraculous win for Rockhampton.