Powell and Singh the Difference in Game of Twists and Turns

In an attempt to overcome the blues of recent weeks, the Mighty Vs entertained a swaggering Woking & Horsell (W&H) side that had arrived off the back of a comprehensive 102 run win against a struggling Farncombe. Vandals Skip William ‘Woosnam’ Powell won the battle of the tossers once again and stuck in a confident W&H line-up, with nine players reaching double figures the previous week, into bat on a mild and cloudy afternoon at Brownacres.

The Jentley partnership didn’t quite match the start they had the week before when they had Cobham Avorians reeling at 7/5 but as usual they kept their lines and lengths tidy to set the tone with two early sticks. Qais Nawaz chipping a low full toss to Sambo ‘Baz’ Buckell at mid-wicket off Luke ‘Sherman’ Bentley’s bowling for a golden duck, and Durnford caught napping on his crease against the ever in form Jonny ‘Biffa’ Powell – gone lbw for 5.

The W&H Skipper, Tim Keene arrived at the crease on the back of some decent league form and combined well with other opener Eddington, to consolidate and build a partnership. However it was Eddington (20) who was next to go as he nicked off to the well placed 4th slip, ‘A-man-in-the-Deep’ Singh off the bowling of Bentley.

Keene (48) played well continuing to build partnerships with the middle order until he succumbed and went after a short of a length delivery from all-rounder Connor ‘Jackie’ Baker and miscued one mid-on – another snatch for Our-man-in-the-Deep.

Apart from a middle order revival between Cockett (23) and Newton (19) there was not much that worried the bowlers. Newton who had played positively and looked threatening was brilliantly caught at extra cover with a low diving catch by Ani Kulkarni.

It just wouldn’t be cricket without Scott ‘Thumb’ Baker picking up a victim after the openers had toiled tirelessly through the early sessions. However it was one opening bowler in particular who took full advantage of a late second spell, and claimed 3 late wickets to finish with his second 5’for in as many weeks. In order to appreciate just how well Biffa has bowled this year, his 5/41 last week against Cobham Avorians in fact worsened his 2016 league bowling average. One KPI that Biffa does take very seriously indeed.

Biffa’s impressive spell of 5/30 has seen him develop a lead of 5 wickets (21 in total @ an average of 3.5 wickets per match) at the top of the 4th Division bowling stats above second placed Richard Brown of Old Hamptonians.

Garry ‘Berol’ Foreman once again proved why he is the ultimate slip fielder by snatching 3 good catches in the grabbers. Another jug to add to first orders at the bar!

The W&H innings finished as it started with another golden duck for number 11, Calum Chrisholm, and a grand total of 149 runs in 39 overs. Vandals would receive 61 overs in return.

With tea still 50 minutes away the Vandals top order had to see out a short yet tricky spell of bowling before the break. The openers Sambo and Connor were looking for a positive start but unfortunately were unable to get the home side off and running and both fell cheaply. At 17/2 and both openers in the hut, it was Ali ‘Pup’ Booth and Amandeep Singh who had to resist some early pressure from the W&H opening pair. Tea was taken with Vandals on 23/2.

It was déjà vu for the chasing side as they quietly consumed tea with the knowledge that 154 runs were 77 runs too many for them the week before at the same ground.

Calum Chrisholm, who now holds the record for the longest run up and longest distance covered in an innings at Brownacres, bowled excellent lines that caused frustration and problems for Pup early on. With little runs being scored from that end the bowling side felt they had their man and the banter began to intensify. However, Pup adjusted his approach accordingly and soon became a nuisance at the crease.

As always Singh batted solidly from the other end and the partnership began to gain momentum. But just as the game had started to shift towards the home side, Pup was yorked on 46, attempting to come down the track to Pyle (4/17), leaving plenty of work still to be done by the rest of the batting order at 98/3.

A batting collapse ensued with 5, 6 and 7 all registering ducks (one golden making it three in the match) leaving the visitors firmly believing that the tide had turned for the final time at 102/6.

With that in mind Keene was eager to take advantage and brought back his opening bowler, Chrisholm (0/40) to tidy things up but Singh had other ideas and took 17 off his return over. Bentley (2) and Singh put on a 24 run partnership to get the game back in the balance, but just as the home side thought they were favourites to go on; Bentley fell, caught by West. 126/7.

It all came down to the decades of experience from home Skip, Woosie, who had to defend from one end as Singh scored the runs from the other. The Skipper (5*) played valiantly to occupy one end, but it was Singh (81*) in the end who would prove to have the temperament and skill to have the final word. He scored 45 runs after Pup’s departure with the rest contributing 7 (from 54 balls) to bring the game home in style with his only shot in the air - a delightful clip over mid-wicket.

Singh tops the 4th Division batting charts for 2016 league averages (89.50) by a country mile and is second in total runs scored with 358 in 6 innings.

The Mighty Vs play their 4th consecutive game at home against 3rd ranked side Hampton Wick Royal and will look to start joining the Ws as they head towards the turn.