Wield vs Oakley, Saturday 20th July
Wield vs Oakley, the final game and it was.... TEN OUT OF TEN!
Wield 356-1 beat Oakley, 200-10
Slightly cooler today, a fine morning for cricket and our final game of the season as we sought the mythical ten out of ten wins, a clean sweep for the season. A rescheduled game from the wet middle of June, Oakley came to Wield and promptly won the toss! Captain Millie led from the front as she and Sam took to the crease, Sam taking up where he left off last week... eight 4s later he finished with 34no while Millie ably supported from the other end. Wield set off to 243 after the first four overs. Ellie and Charlie arrived at a brisk trot and Ellie struck two solid 4s and a final 6 for the season while Charlie hit two 4s and Wield settled into a rhythm taking them to 285. Wilf and Bruce sauntered nonchalantly to the middle of the ground, Wilf taking his score with three 4s to 19 and Bruce two 4s to 10 - Wield continued to progress well – 328-0 after the first 12 overs. Edward and Oliver took their places with Edward opening and immediately hit two 4s while Oliver hit one from the other end. Sadly Edward was bowled on the last ball of the innings but Wield had posted their highest score for the season, a sure to be unbeatable 356-1.
The flapjacks (Emma) and coffee (Judy) arrived and very much appreciated they were too. Both have become a theme to the Wield games over the summer and the Moonroast coffee (www.moonroast.co.uk)in particular slakes the thirst on the cold, warm, or frankly steaming days! The flapjacks provide the energy, the coffee is liquid fuel! Now we were slightly nervous about the bowling as we had seen some of them hitting out in pre-match practice. Sam opened with Oliver and the nerves were gone. In his two overs Sam was on two hat-tricks and finished with figures of 4 runs for 5 wickets, his and Wield’s first 5fer in the season. Oakley were knocked back to 185 and struggled there on. Ellie and Edward came in and both bowled maiden overs as Oakley staged a mini-recovery to 196. Bruce and Captain Millie arrived at their run-ups and two more catches fell to Wield, Wilf taking a diving beauty at mid-wicket. Nothing was getting through the cordon. Charlie and Wilf stepped up for the final four overs and we knew it was in the bag. Charlie held down one end while Wilf polished off another three wickets from the other and Oakley crept to 200-10. Another great victory for Wield and an extraordinary team effort. Again, last last week, only one wicket down and a very high score, fantastic. The exuberance, enthusiasm and support around the team and in the wider squad is a joy to see and the results clear: an unbeaten record for Wield in 2013!
Sam’s five wickets and his hitting out (not all on the leg side this week!) scoring 34 was terrific and marks him out as Man of the Match for the second week in a row, he will go far!
Rupert Cazalet