Saturday 1st XI vs Byfleet CC

Putney 1XI started off their cup campaign against Byfleet CC. With the ultimate goal of a return to the final, Putney won the toss and elected to bat. A flurry of early boundries and wickets saw Putney 35 for 3 in the 6th over. Matt Atkins and Damandeep Singh then started to consolidate and build a partnership.

The sudden exit of Matt Atkins to a torn Achilles heel (strangely enough an easy single that did get anyone run out) gave the opposition hope of getting into the middle order and running through the lineup. What they did not realise was that next in was a young Mitch "pup" Clark who was hungry runs. This partnership took the game away from Byfleet and nestled it firmly in the hands of Putney.

Some customary power hitting from Bam Bam and elegant stroke play from Mitch saw Putney from 43 for 4 (with the retirement of Matt Atkins) to 170 for 4 when Bam Bam fell for a well played 93. Mitch then stepped on as the gas as he got useful contributions from both Ian Almond (27) and Chin Ratnayake (15) which saw him to a majestic 117. Putney ended up on 320 for 9 after 45 overs.

After another good tea Putney were in the field defending their mammoth total. Byfleet lost a wicket in the first over and then regained some composure. Numbers 4 and 5 started batting sensibly but were still under the rate required. With their platform set and the launch imminent, the number 4 turned for a cheeky 2nd only to be outpaced by an agile piece of fielding and powerful through by Bam Bam which saw the batsman still 3 feet short after the dive. This effectively sealed the result and Byfleet meandered to 243 for 7 off their 45 overs.

Some very accurate bowling Chin Ratnayake (9-2-29-3), James Peters (9-0-41-0) and Ian Almond (7-0-43-0) kept pressure on and made the result certain. However man of the match was Mitch Clark for a great hundred. Well played all and bring on the next cup game.

Devon Ebersohn
June 11, 2012