Pacific narrowly lost this exciting match. Winning the toss, Pacific skipper Nigel Wilkinson elected to bat on a slow and variable pitch.
Pacific 124 all out, Murray 35, Mileham 34, Jones 27
Denham 125-8, B.Buckingham 30, Mileham 42-4, Roberts 9-2
Pacific batsmen found it tough going, not helped by suicide running between the wickets which saw Steve Lay, John Green and Marcel Boonaert all run out. David Murray (35) and Craig Jones (27) gave the innings some stability but without a swashbuckling 34 from 20 balls from Tim Mileham, Pacific would not have put a decent score on the board. The slow pitch and outfield meant this was an average score, but being bowled out early gave Denham two hours and 20 overs to get the runs.
In response, Marcel Boonaert bowled 13 overs straight, unluckily picking up only one wicket for 30 runs. At the other end, Mileham continued his Ian Botham impression taking 42-4 in two spells, the second following John Brown dislocating his finger. However, Denham made steady progress and looking comfortable winners until Skipper Wilkinson turned to spin. Alan Roberts (9-2) and David Murray (9-1) came close to winning the match (Murray bowling top scorer Buckingham (30) round his legs), but Denham managed to pick off the remaining runs.
This was Pacific's first loss of the season, but encouragingly they still showed good spirit to fight back several times when all looked lost. Captain Wilkinson said after the match, "This was a good performance given we played a strong team with a number of our key players absent.
However, when only three batsmen get into double figures you're always going to be struggling. Tim (Mileham) is proving to be a great all rounder for us and I reckon Dave Murray's leg spin could be a bonus for us later in the season when the pitches harden up."
|
www.pacificcc.co.uk
top