Draw
| Batsmen | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Richards | Out | 15 | ||||
| Stephen Mankee | Out | 47 | ||||
| Ian Boyton | Out | 73 | ||||
| Scott Stevens | Out | 22 | ||||
| Rhys Yorke | Not Out | 38 | ||||
| Abbas Ghulam | Not Out | 15 | ||||
| James Moore | DNB | |||||
| Duncan Parr | DNB | |||||
| Steve Roberts | DNB | |||||
| Richard Anderson | DNB | |||||
| Ted Baker | DNB | |||||
| Extras | ||||||
| Bowling | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Richards | 9.0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 3.56 | |
| Rhys Yorke | 15.0 | 4 | 47 | 0 | 3.13 | |
| Abbas Ghulam | 17.0 | 2 | 54 | 1 | 3.18 | |
| Duncan Parr | 7.0 | 0 | 19 | 5 | 2.71 | |
| Extras | ||||||
| Fielder | Catches | Run Outs | Stumpings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Boyton | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Stevens | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Abbas Ghulam | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Duncan Parr | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Anderson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Baker | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Sonning arrived at their first league game of the season with a certain amount of trepidation as they were missing a number of regulars, including Captain Gary Phillips (On paternal duties) and Vice captain JJ Harris( injured shoulder). They were playing a Chesham team who last season were playing 2 leagues above them and were unlucky to get relegated as they finished 3rd from bottom of division 1.
Opening with Steve Mankee, a combination of tight fast bowling and a new found responsibility meant Mark Richards started at a sedate pace, but this was exactly what they needed. Despite getting out for 15 off 15 overs the openers had seen off the best of the Kenyan International opener, and this allowed Mankee and skipper for the day Ian Boyton to start winding up the pace before the big hitters such as Scott Stevens, Rhys Yorke and Ghulam Abbas to came in with a free rein to ‘Tee off!’. This they did and Sonning finished their 52 overs on 218 for 4 with Boyton top scoring with an excellent 73.
The Chesham innings started at a pedestrian rate with Yorke bowling 3 maidens in a row. The tight bowling of Yorke and Abbas, while not rattling through the wickets, started to increase the pressure on the batsmen as they were falling behind the run rate and when Duncan ‘Gravity Ball’ Parr and Mark Richards came on to take pace off the ball, wickets started to tumble as the batsmen tried to play big shots. Special mention must go to ‘Dangerous’ Ted baker, who was making his first start behind the stumps for the 1st team and he certainly did not look out of place, being very tidy and taking one sharp stumping. Parr in particular bowled really well ending with figures of 5 for 19 from 7 overs and Chesham finished on 165 for 8, having never really looked capable of chasing the runs down. This meant 14 points for Sonning and only 5 for Chesham.
This must be seen as a very encouraging start for Sonning against one of the teams who would have been viewed as probable favourites for the league at the start of the season, and with a number of players returning next week, there will be some tough selection decisions to be made by Skipper Phillips.
JJ Harris
