BOTWCC 2nd XI v Hinckley
Saturday 28th June 2008
In what was expected to be a seriously tough match for the Burton Two's, the events of the day actually proved something quite different.
Having won the toss, Skipper Rob Dunn elected to field and the Burton attack got to work. Openers Lanky Langham and Penton gave little away (Penton even got 2 wickets! Go figure) and Hinckley were restricted to very little. The arrival of the Hinckley 'Thorn in our side' John Beasley at number 3 perhaps suggested that little was to come after him, which turned out to be quite true.
Good bowling followed from James and Dan Headley, Tim WIlson, and a very useful 12 overs from the Skipper restricted the visitors to a mere 162 for 6 in their 45 overs.
After such a sound fielding performance against the runaway league leaders and with quite a batting lineup in the bag, Burton felt that a win should be better than likely. Although, a couple of canny elder statesmen in the Hinckley team could make the run chase difficult with some typically tidy bowling.
Not so. Not a one of them bowled with any real accuracy or genuine threat to penetrate the Burton bats. Openers Mark Russell and Ali Love proved quickly that mediocre bowling gets punished even at this level of the game. It took a very slow rank long hop several feet wide of the off stump to force Russell to give up his wicket.
Rob Dunn came in and fired a few quick boundaries including a couple of fearsome pulls through mid wicket for 6 before he was sent back for dancing up the track to a slow leg spinner.
Rob Simmons played a small cameo before being run out and Rich Stenning an even smaller one, with his 1 not out. But all of this pales into insignificance for what was going on at the other end.
Young Ali Love was simply awesome. Anything hitable got hit. Runs came freely and just kept on coming.
An array of excellently played strokes to all parts took Burton to not only a win, but a win for the loss of only 3 wickets and in just 24.2 overs. (The Burton Two's have only lost 3 wickets in the last 3 matches. Not bad huh?)
And with what turned out to be the last ball of the match, Ali drove one straight over mid-on for another boundary to win the game and claim his first club century. It was undoubtedly the best knock for the club since Sonny Warne's 103 against the same team last season. Well done that lad. A class cricketer in the making.
Additionally, this is clearly not a fluke. This was Love's 3rd week not out with previous innings ending on 75 and 71 not out against Hathern and Braunstone. Naturally, he sits proudly atop the batting averages.
Well done he and well done the Two's for yet another cracking win.
MATCH STATS
Hinckley 162-6 off 45
BOTWCC 163-3 off 24.2
Bowling
C Langham 7 0 30 0
G Penton 12 2 30 2
J Headley 4 1 19 1
R Dunn 12 3 29 1
T Wilson 5 0 18 1
D Headley 5 1 18 1
Batting
M Russell 19
A Love 102 not out
R Dunn 26
R Simmons 5
R Stenning 1 not out
Catches
Langham 2
Stenning 3