Match Report

Saturday 16 May 2009, at Cavendish Sports Ground, Field End Road, Eastcote - Won by 3 wickets (Ref. 200905)

Debut: Chris Brosnan

Batting records continued to tumble at Cavendish as Wealdstone Corinthians earned their first win of the season with 9 balls to spare against a more experienced Wembley side than in recent meetings. The visitors chose to bat first and built a useful total thanks to a stand of 55 for the first wicket and an unbroken one of 52 for the 7th wicket before the declaration. Despite conceding 13 runs in his first over Chris Clark bowled 16 overs unchanged, and with better catching would have had more than three wickets. Phil Cundy, who began his career at Wembley almost 40 years ago, also took three to move closer to his career tally of 700 wickets. For the second consecutive home match a positive start from Andy Naylor was followed by the Cavendish 4th wicket partnership record, this time 118 between John Wakeling and Ian Windsor, which took Corinthians to the brink of victory. With the help of Joanne Windsor, who made the highest score for the club by a female and was probably the first to be on the winning side, the target was reached despite the fall of four late wickets. It was the highest ever target successfully chased by Corinthians in their 225 matches at Cavendish.

Wembley 193-6 dec (46 overs), P Cundy 3-38, C Clark 3-87, J Kelly 52

In very windy, and briefly wet, conditions Wembley opted to bat first. Steve Brown began with a maiden, and conceded just one boundary in his 6 tidy overs, whereas Chris Clark opening at the Pavilion End overpitched and went for three fours in his first over alone. However, he did regain control and went on to bowl the longest spell by a Corinthian bowler for 6 years. He should have had Kelly caught off a skier but it swirled and eluded keeper Andy Naylor's grasp. The breakthrough came in the 12th over when Orengo drove Clark uppishly to cover, where Ian Windsor held a sharp chance diving to his right. He was given a 4-over spell and swung the ball, though not as effectively as he would later swing the bat. Clark made it 80-2 in the 16th over when he bowled Kelly for 52, and Phil Cundy entered the attack to try and reduce the scoring rate. By making the batsmen play he applied pressure that led to three maidens and three wickets for 19 runs in his first 10 overs. Firstly Barnett was bowled, then he trapped Bodiani and the hard hitting Raj LBW. He almost had a catch when enthusiastic fielder Chris Brosnan made a valiant attempt with his left hand diving at mid on, though the debutant had at least given Clark his third wicket by plucking a shot from Hopkinson out of the air at cover. Wembley recovered well from 141-6 through the experience of Murphy and skipper Smith to add 52 in the 13 overs before the declaration. The supreme effort from Chris Clark had brought him the fourth most expensive analysis ever, however a victory would mean it would also overtake Geoff Morley's 7-68 at Rastrick in 1996 as the most runs conceded by a Corinthian when on the winning side.

Corinthians 194-7 (41.3 overs), J Wakeling 72* (99 balls), I Windsor 65 (62 balls), A Naylor 35 (50 balls)

Facing an orthodox 6-3 field Andy Naylor found the gaps early on, cutting the first ball of the innings from Hopkinson for 4 then adding 2 and 4 off Murphy through the vacant fine leg area. In his next Raj Meswani got off the mark with the shot of the match, a superb on drive for 4, and both batsmen hit a boundary off Hopkinson to make it 26-0 after 5 overs. Meswani was caught off Murphy at mid on trying to clear the fielder, but in his next over John Wakeling twice cut him for 2 to keep the score moving. After another boundary off each bowler Naylor was bowled by Murphy, and Chris Brown was soon given out LBW to a ball he allegedly hit to make it 59-3. The opening bowlers shared 6 more overs, half of them maidens, for just 11 runs as Ian Windsor played himself in. Then came the last over before the final 20, from the slow left-armer Alford. Wakeling twice pulled him for 6, added 4 and 1, then Windsor lofted a massive 6 over mid wicket from the final ball. The 23rd over had cost Wembley 23 runs, and Corinthians now needed only 101 to win. Bodiani came on at the Pavilion End and Windsor was particularly severe on him, scoring 6 boundaries from 14 deliveries faced and threatening to reach his 50 before Wakeling. The 50 partnership came in 9 overs and the next 50 even quicker. Both batsmen not only reached their fifties (John from 72 balls and Ian from 45) but also their highest personal scores at Cavendish. The support of Nicky and Karen maintained this season's record that every 50 has been observed by the batsman's better looking half - long may it last. Ian did look in need of mouth to mouth after running a three to complete his 50, then lying down to stop John running the 4th and 5th. The final double bowling change slowed the scoring rate a little and brought two wickets apiece for Austin and Smith, but never quite put the result in jeopardy. It was 177-4 when Windsor senior was bowled round his legs, though Joanne soon took 2 and 1 off Austin and expertly steered a Smith beamer to the third man fence. She and Chris Brosnan were bowled in consecutive balls but Beasley prevented the hat trick. Although he was bowled for a duck in the next over Wakeling had taken the score to 192 and he won a rousing match with a 2 off the visiting skipper. Congratulations to Wembley for their slick over rate, which ensured there would be a result (though not quite, in Eurovision terms).