An unbelievable performance from the 1's at The Shen against a woeful Horndon On The Hill saw a crushing victory by 275 runs. The visitors won the toss and, surprisingly, decided to have a bowl on a track that looked immaculate. The choice seemed vindicated when Evan Ackerman was bowled in the second over; but that was as good as it got for them as the second wicket put on 94 before Jamie Walton was caught by wicketkeeper Ryan Plom for 29. By this time, Leiba Ngoepe had already reached his first fifty of the season and was in the mood to do some serious plundering. He formed a partnership of 85 with Will Howard, and with his score on exactly 100, he became the first 1st XI batsmen to get to a century since he himself achieved the feat four days short of three years ago against Buckhurst Hill. The ball before, on 94, he smashed the ball to long off and was caught, only for the fielder to casually take a step backwards and present Lesiba with his ton. His runs came from 91 balls , and included seven 4's and six 6's.
Tom Arnold came in briefly and was replaced by Jack Plom. He and Will then put on 55 runs together before Jack tried to be too funky and was caught by his brother for 23, A quick cameo by Matt Salisbury was then followed by another 55 run partnership, this time between Will and Sam Bear (23), in six overs.
The following over saw Will become the second centurion for Shenfield in the match, the first time that the 1's had two centurions in the same innings since August 2016 against South Woodford. Captain Dave Hickey fell the next ball, and Will and Joe Massie saw out the innings, with Will obliterating the final ball to the pavilion for yet another six. His unbeaten 108 came from just 78 balls , and included seven 4's and seven 6's. An imposing score of 323-8 was the target set to a team who hadn't won all season, and, didn't look to have the stomach for a battle.
The match was over as a contest inside six overs as openers Jack Plom and Matt Salisbury took three wickets each with less than 30 on the board. Jack had his revenge on his brother by bowling him out. Sam Bear then took over from Jack and helped himself to three wickets, including the final one, whilst Jack replaced Matt at the top end and gained a fourth wicket as Horndon were tumbled out for 48 inside 17 overs, with only one batsman getting into double figures. A colossal victory of 275 runs was attained in a mere 74 minutes, with the boys in full voice back in the dressing room.
Next week sees a sterner test with the visit of Westcliff On Sea, a point above us.
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