Having
had their game washed out the previous week at
Farningham Offham took their winning start to
the season into the last week of May against a
Chislehurst side that had last season narrowly
missed promotion.
Electing to field, the home side did not make
the most of the new ball allowing the visitors
to get off to a flying start as the opening
bowlers over pitched, leaving the fielders to
collect the ball from the boundary ropes.
However once a good length had been established
Dan Blakeburn, continuing his fine early season
form, dispatched one of the openers thanks to a
sharp slip catch by Gary Evans, pegging
Chislehurst back. From this point the game ebbed
and flowed. First Chislehurst gained the
initiative through their nurdling opener, and
their fourth batsman who demonstrated a penchant
for wide, wide long-on to any ball pitched
outside off stump. He gained a reprieve straight
after drinks when George Wood downed a caught
and bowled, and eventually made 78 before Phil
Blakeburn literally cleaved his middle stump in
half. Tight ground fielding and accurate bowling
in the last 15 overs pulled the home side back
into contention and eventually restricted the
opposition to 248 -9 from their 50 overs.
After
the tea interval the early signs in Offham's
reply were encouraging as Phil Blakeburn and
Gary Evans developed a solid partnership at
start of the innings. Losing their first wicket
at 23 brought Nathan Faulkes to the wicket
looking to follow his recent century. However
his part in the run out of Phil Blakeburn
weighed heavy on his shoulders and with the
score on 87 unluckily ran himself out, as the
fielder hit the stumps direct from some
distance. Captain Neil Willis took the attack to
Chislehurst striking 46, including 7 fours and a
6, but when he went after taking the score past
100 the Offham middle and lower order collapsed,
with 4 wickets tumbling for 9 runs. Fortunately
for Offham Mark Stoodley blasted a fusillade of
blows, mostly into the neighbouring tennis
courts to secure a batting point before
inevitably falling to catch by a boundary
fielder.
|