Visiting Winterbourne Fourths asked the Methodists to bat first on a bowler-friendly Norton Hill pitch – a wise decision, given that a wicket fell to just the seventh delivery of the game.
Scoring was tough during the opening ten overs, as Mike Purnell and the impressive Sami Hamid kept pressure on the home side, but eventually, in the fourteenth over, the shackles were loosened and the runs began to come more easily. Wayne Higgins (28) gave the innings a solid base before the Methodists’ Captain, Stuart Green, arrived in the middle, injecting more impetus into the hosts’ search for runs and bringing up the hundred in the 28th over.
The Methodists were hampered by the regular loss of wickets as the experienced Bob Vickery (3–33) and David and Matt Moller made sure that no other batsmen could build a big score – but Green cut loose towards the end, dominating a series of small partnerships and finishing the innings on an excellent (and exhausting) eighty not out. A final total of 173–8 was not massive, but at least gave the Methodists’ bowlers something to play with.
After tea, the visitors’ innings started badly, with a second-ball run out and things didn’t really improve for them from that point onwards. Several batsmen got starts, but only two reached double figures, as the Methodists’ bowling trio of James Sackett (3–6), Josh Potter (3–19) and Craig Eyles (2–5) kept the wickets coming. Helped by some decent catches in the outfield for a change this week, the home team closed in on victory after the drinks break, with proceedings eventually brought to an end by another excellent Mark Robinson run-out, parting the final batting pair in the 28th over. The home side wrapped up a resounding win by 101 runs, and cemented their mid-table position in BDCA Division Eleven, before their meeting with the powerful Stanton Drew team next time out.
Daniel Shearn