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26-05-07
click here for match scorecard
Earl Stonham returned after a scheduled two week break for the long trip
to Great Yeldham. The relentless May weather, which would have scuppered
the chances for any play over the previous two weekends, ceased for long
enough to allow this fixture to take place. The pitch was grassy and
Earl Stonham won the toss and put Yeldham in to bat in the cold and
overcast conditions. To Stonham's delight Yeldham were missing their
departed left-handed ex-skipper N Wright. Wright scored an unbeated
fifty and a cracking ton in his two matches against Stonham last season
before moving to Melford.
Yeldham were undaunted by an attacking field, and after a couple of
early plays and misses they started scoring quickly. After ten overs
both openers, Spearman and Andrianates, were still there and it looked like it could be a long
afternoon in the field. John Humphreys made the breakthrough with a full
ball dead on off stump. The resistance was broken and the remaining nine
wickets combined fell for less than the opening partnership. Humphreys'
spell was mesmeric, with the highlight of his six-wicket haul a
spectacular one-handed diving catch at wide second slip from Jeff Lewis
to removed the solid P Andrianates; with a combined age of over one hundred, this 'Economy-Humphreys'-Lewis moment is an early
contender for 'magic moment' of the season. Jeff Lewis bowled a very tight spell
backed by a lively field. Rob Wrinch nearly forced a run out as Yeldham
pushed a quick single, and Stephen Lewis produced a fine one-handed
pick-up-and-throw on the run to remove the dangerous M Hoadley from the
outfield. In fact, once the first wicket fell the fielding was quite
superb with Simon Edgar and Ian Turner both pouching edges from the
bowling of Humphries, and Ed Player and David Eade collecting a good
catch each.
Yeldham limped to 113 all out after losing their first
wicket only 50 or so runs earlier.
Earl Stonham started their run chase knowing that they had more than 55
overs to chase their target. Run scoring came slowly as Stonham elected
to preserve wickets rather than going for quick runs. Despite Ian Turner
top scoring with just 21 each batter contributed in the tricky
conditions and the vast majority of the batting was done intelligently
with the modest target safely in mind. The last fourty runs came far
more quickly that the previous seventy with David Eade looking powerful
before a back twinge forced him to retire hurt, Paul Adams and Richard
Clements both looking explosive and dangerous, and Charlie Tunstall
looking like he could be returning to a patch of welcome form. Tunstall
himself sweetly struck the winning boundary to mark a hard fought
victory for the team, with three wickets and more than 15 overs to
spare.
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