Another tough match for the boys yesterday as Chorleywood came with a very strong team. It was certainly an all action game with both teams really going for it in a game which was likely to shape the outcome at the top of the group!

• Tring lost the toss and Chorleywood chose to field
• TPCC 262 - 9
• Chorleywood 288 - 8

• Chorleywood win

Tring Innings

Dan R & Drew got off to a tricky start following a lovely straight drive from Drew the boys pushed for two and excellent piece of fielding resulted in the stumps being hit from a throw in from the boundary running Dan out. Dan then fended a high bouncing ball (a theme of the day with their very tall and quick bowling attack!) off to cover. However the boys composed themselves brilliantly and took advantage of some subsequent wayward bowling and forged a partnership of 18 with some excellent running and power hitting.

Thomas & Roman were in next. Once again there was a mixture of good accurate bowling and some very wayward bowling making it difficult to score off the bat. However again the boys ran aggressively making the most of byes. Once again this pair gave us the comedy moment of the day with both ending up at the same end, debating who should go back, and then manging to both make their ground without a run out! As they were forging a good partnership it was undone a little at the end by another direct hit for a run out and then Thomas was bowled by the proverbial “pea roller” (I will speak to the groundsman!). This resulted in the boys being pegged back to 6. And the total 224.

Oliver and Charlie (our captain for the day) took up the mantle and really did face some tough bowling. Oliver hit a cracking lofted drive for four and defended very well against a barrage of quick bowling. Charlie ran aggressively and defended well but two high class balls in the last over meant again we lost two wickets pegging us back a little. But the boys still added 19 and the score moved to 243.

Lucas & Tom took up the battle and again the bowling was good. However Tom pulled the second and third balls of the partnership dismissively to the boundary , Lucas defended well and manoeuvred the ball around the field for some nice runs. However another fantastic piece of fielding saw another run out and then without doubt the catch of the season to stop Tom scoring another boundary. However the boys had not finished and off the last ball of the innings Tom dispatched the ball for a mighty six over mid-wicket! The meant the boys added 19 and we closed on 262.

Chorleywood Innings

We bowled in the same order we fielded.

Drew & Dan R got us underway. And for any parents who were slow getting back to their seats from the bar they missed a frenetic start to the innings! Dan took a nice catch behind the stumps off the second ball, which was followed by Drew completing a run out and then Lucas taking great catch at mid-off resulting in our second hat trick of the season and really pegging Chorleywood back. Dan when he found his line and length troubled the batsman and as a result the boys pegged them back to a partnership of just 9, with Drew returning figures of 4 for 7 of two overs!!

Thomas & Roman were next. Both boys bowled tight lines and kept the scoring opportunities limited for the batsman who were both very strong pullers of the ball. Roman was unlucky not to get a wicket with the ball landing between fielders and Thomas bowled very accurately giving no extras away with figures of two overs for 3 runs. The pair added 27 and the score moved to 236, leaving things right in the balance.

Oliver & Charlie took over and were up against a classy pair of batsman. Oliver bowled very consistently and with good pace only giving one extra away. Charlie grew in confidence and despite facing some strong attacking batsman secured two wickets, both catches, one by Oliver and one by Dan, meaning he returned figures of two overs, two wickets for 16. This left Chorleywood on 257.

Lucas & Tom were our last pair. They struggled a little in the first two overs with line and some good batting meaning Chorleywood pulled clear of our total but the boys attitude was fantastic all day never giving up and Lucas bowled the batsman off the first ball of his second over hitting the top of off stump. Chorleywood looked concerned and a couple more streaky shots could easily have gone to hand but instead went for runs meaning Chorleywood got over the line!

All of this meant Chorleywood won by 25 runs.

Despite the result there were again lots of positives. The boys did not give their wickets away this week, it was either good bowling, catching or fielding which earned Chorleywood the wickets. The running was strong and the fielding exceptional.

Cricket can often be decided on fine margins and the margin of victory for Chorleywood I do not think reflects how close the game was. Had Tom not been caught by a stunning catch and we had manged to take a couple more of our chances the game could easily gone the other way. This was a very strong opposition and further underlines how far the boys have come on this season.

This week’s MOM was:

• Drew for his hat trick and also some exceptional fielding on the boundary

We also had two shot of the day awards again:

• Oliver for his lofted drive over the bowler
• Tom for hi crunching pull going for a six!

I will be sending out the team for a week on Friday shortly,

Regards