Empingham vs Grantham Title chasing Grantham proved too strong for Empingham, as they blew away the Rutlanders top order to secure a 72 run victory. Empingham bowled first on a pitch that offered plenty of assistance to the bowlers. Debutant Spencer Sheppard shared the new ball with Rhys Talbot and he impressed bowling with good pace and accuracy. He consistently found the edge and nearly secured a breakthrough but Mark Coburn couldn’t cling on. Rhys Talbot (7-1-33) struggled to bowl as consistently but did produce a number of cracking deliveries that beat the bat. Indeed, he eventually made the breakthrough picking up the key wicket of league top scorer Stewart Mudie caught in the covers. Dave Mckevitt and Freddie Turner were both brought on first change and the pair combined well to stifle the run rate and apply pressure. Mckevitt (7-1-23) picked up the next wicket caught behind and when Turner (5-1-15) had wicket number three, thanks to a stunning catch by Archie Spears, Grantham were 68-3 and struggling. However, Grantham’s middle order was strong and they launched a counter attack on the spin duo of Dan O’Kane and Olly Elson. Elson picked up another wicket thanks to a good catch from Talbot but some big hitting began to give Grantham the upper hand. O’Kane eventually had Grantham’s dangerous West Indian LBW for a 25 ball 42 but his knock had given the innings some impetus. Sheppard returned and once again impressed, picking up his first wicket for the club, aided by another brilliant catch by Spears and he ended with 10-2-29 when Coburn ‘s direct hit secured a stumping of sorts on the last ball to restrict Grantham to 199-7. Empingham’s reply got off to the worst possible start with Coburn bowled in the third over. When Turner edged behind, the middle order was left exposed to the express pace Grantham had on offer. Elson and Adam Ireland were both undone without scoring and when captain Tom Cooper (17) unluckily chopped on after showing maturity amidst the onslaught, Empingham were 32-5 and under the pump. Rick Cooper (16) and Sheppard (16) steadied the ship, fending off the pace bowling and playing some scintillating strokes. Once they departed, Talbot (28) batted beautifully alongside the rest of the lower order to take Empingham to three batting points as they were eventually bowled out for 127. As always it was disappointing to come of second best but overall it was a decent all round performance. We perhaps could have restricted Grantham more after a strong start and if the top order had been more resilient we could have had a chance with the chase but in the end we lost to the better team. We remain sixth and with three home games remaining, our aim must be to secure a top five finish. Another reminder, that it is now less than a fortnight until the WAGS vs Players match and carvery on September 7th. Spread the word and come along, the more the merrier! Mal needs to know numbers for catering so make sure your name is down! Any ladies wishing to play in either the cricket or rounders match, please let Judy know.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 13:40:45 +0000
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