Scorecard

Burnham Sports CC 1st XI v Writtle on Sat 07 May 2011 at 1.30pm
Burnham Sports CC Lost by 9 runs

Match report It was a case of so close and yet to far as Burnham Sports began their respective league campaigns with two narrow defeats.
A battling innings of 72 by Grant Smith could not prevent the 1st XI losing by nine runs at home to Writtle in the T Rippon Mid-Essex League first division, while the club’s 2nd XI were suffering an agonising one-wicket defeat away to Danbury in division eight.
Both sides were left to reflect on what might have been, with the firsts, missing several regular faces, paying the price for a patchy performance with bat and ball.
Put into bat, Writtle began briskly on a straw-coloured pitch before losing a cluster of wickets mid-innings. A late rally, though, enabled them to end with a respectable 197 all out - Pete Lewington (30) top scoring after being given an early life.
Ali Allchin (12-3-43-3) claimed early wickets, but off-spinner Paul Green (7-2-26-3) was even more effective on a wicket that was offering plenty of turn. Karl Barnes, David May and Andy Stephens, who was unusually expensive, each claimed a wicket each, with young Fuad Ahmed chipping in with a sharp run out from mid-on.
Having bowled out the visiting team with a dozen balls to spare, Sports had the luxury of 47 overs to reach their target but it still was not enough time.
The loss of two early wickets unsettled them and when Allchin (22) suffered a soft dismissal in the 30th over, they still required 105 against a bowling attack that was maintaining an accurate line and length .
Smith and Ed King (14) offered some momentum with a fifth-wicket stand of 33 but when Smith, who found the boundary 11 times despite not being at his best, was run out at the end of the 41st over, Sports were still 41 short of victory.
May and Stephens, the captain, had reduced that target to 14 with eight balls left but a final push proved beyond the pair. The latter was bowled aiming an expansive hit through the off-side, with Dominic Whittaker and Fuad soon following him back to the pavilion. Sports closed on 188 for nine, with May unbeaten on 22.
“We bowled far too many four-balls and were a bit laboured with the bat, too” Stephens said. “It was a disappointing start, although it speaks volumes for our potential that we got so close to winning without being near our best and with key players missing.”

Writtle Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
197 (0.0 overs)		     
Lewington ct  and b Barnes 30
Harris ct  and b Allchin 7
Dias ct  Smith b Allchin 20
Board b  May 27
Harsha ct  Smith b Stephens 24
Oriey ct  Saayeid b Green 25
Marsh b  Allchin 17
Fenton ct  Green 23
Williamson run out  (Fuad) 6
Cook ct  Allchin b Green 0
Anderson Not Out  5

Burnham Sports CC 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Alastair Allchin12.0343314.333.58
Andy Stephens9.0156156.006.22
. .6.0119119.003.17
Fuad Ahmed5.003000.006.00
David May3.001900.006.33
Paul Green7.022638.673.71

Burnham Sports CC 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
188		        
Paul Green ct  Cook 6
Grant Smith Run out  72 2
Joel Whittaker b  Harris 0
Sayeid Ahmed b  Anderson 16 1
Alastair Allchin ct  Williamson 21 3
Ed King b  Dias 14
David May Not Out  22
Andy Stephens b  Fenton 14
Dominic Whittaker ct  Fenton 0
Fuad Ahmed b  Cook 0 1
. . Not Out  1 1

Writtle Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Cook12.0238219.003.17
Harris7.0124124.003.43
Anderson6.0017117.002.83
Williamson9.0332132.003.56
Dias6.0024124.004.00
Fenton7.0046223.006.57