Won
| Batsmen | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Phillips | Out | 27 | ||||
| Duncan Parr | Out | 13 | ||||
| Mark Richards | Out | 14 | ||||
| Cameron Gannon | Not Out | 108 | ||||
| Richard Harris | Out | 58 | ||||
| Andy Sumner | DNB | |||||
| Richard Moore | DNB | |||||
| George Troughton | DNB | |||||
| Mark Anderson | DNB | |||||
| Phil Wilding | DNB | |||||
| Extras | ||||||
| Bowling | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan Parr | 8.0 | 1 | 56 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Mark Richards | 5.0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1.00 | |
| Cameron Gannon | 14.0 | 3 | 43 | 5 | 3.07 | |
| George Troughton | 9.3 | 1 | 42 | 1 | 4.42 | |
| Mark Anderson | 8.0 | 0 | 47 | 2 | 5.88 | |
| Phil Wilding | 2.0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 7.50 | |
| Extras | ||||||
Sonning arrived at Yateley looking for the 3 points they needed to guarantee being division 4B champions, but also wanting to win a game against their perennial rivals .
Having been inserted to bat, skipper Phillips opened up with Duncan Parr as Mark Richards was late after getting lost in a pasty shop. A solid start, especially from Phillips who was hitting the ball nicely, turned sour as first Parr, then the skipper and then star batsman Richards all failed to come to terms with the slow wicket. At 69-3 the pressure was on vice captain J.J. Harris and Aussie Cameron Gannon who had taken a while to get off the mark. Harris survived a tough caught and bowled chance early on and a couple of close LBW calls, but grew in confidence seeing Gannon stroke the ball away with his mighty straight bat . Soon the ball started departing to all parts of the boundary and both players reached their fifties. Harris departed soon after reaching his landmark for 58 while trying to hit every ball for 6 but the 126 run partnership had put Sonning well and truly in control. At this point 92 year old Pete Whitmore crawled the wicket and proceeded to time the ball like David Gower. Yateley were well and truly demoralised, and after Gannon completed his well deserved century and Whitmore passed 50, the declaration came at 315 for 4 off just 47 overs. Interestingly for those who may think this is a one man team, with Whitmore and Harris passing 50 in this game it means that 9 different players have passed the landmark in a league game this season, more than any other season this century!
With Abbas strengthening the 2nds in their promotion chase, Sonning were a bit short in the bowling department, but this did not seem to matter as 2 wickets in Gannon’s opening spell and a silly run out put Yateley in big trouble . However a good partnership between Rawat and Gore, only ended by a terrific caught and bowled from Parr put them in with a chance of survival, with bowlers Troughton, Parr, Richards and the redoubtable Phil Wilding all struggling to get anything out of the wicket. The ball was eventually tossed to veteran Mark Anderson, who once again came up with the goods taking a couple of wickets. With Gannon back in the attack and taking 3 more wickets, it looked as if Sonning were cruising. However Rawat started smashing the ball to all parts and with brave youngster Bartlett at the other end keeping the Aussie out, the chances of a draw were increasing. Rawat eventually passed the century mark before one more attempted big swipe off Troughton ended up with his stumps out of the ground and Sonning had won. Gannon ended with 5 wickets for 43 runs, which added to his century, meant he just sneaked the man of the match award from the “Wildthing�!
An excellent batting performance on a very hot, draining day meant that Sonning could get away with a slightly lacklustre performance in the field. A good showing will be needed to maintain the unbeaten season next week against Chesham 2nds who last week defeated Purley and are therefore still battling hard for promotion.
JJ
