An important marker was laid down today as the 1's won our first game in 51 weeks (the friendly against Wickford two weeks ago doesn't count!) with a comfortable six wicket win over 1st division Billericay.
The day began with doubts about the match taking place due to more overnight rain and a boggy outfield near the pavilion. The sun came out and a decision was made to start the game 30 minutes late to allow some dryness to permeate the ground. A decision to shorten the boundary also helped, so the game started at 12:30 with live streaming up and running (must find the "Mute" switch"!) to the joy of the captain. Dave won the toss and put the opposition in to bat. A wicket for Sam Bear with his first delivery in the second over didn't seem to put off their batsmen as they tried to take advantage of the opening powerplay. The second wicket to fall was to Tom Arnold with his second delivery of the day. It took Ollie Castell more than an over to take his first wicket, and with Tom taking his second wicket, 77-4 was a good return for some great bowling and fielding.
A 70 run partnership for the fifth wicket temporarily put us on the back foot, before Dan Green opened his account for the season. He soon followed this up with his second wicket, and with Tom taking his third and Jack Plom taking his first, the visitors were restricted to 221-8 in their 45 overs.
The opening of our innings wasn't helped by Jamie Walton getting run-out at the end of the second over. A partnership of 40 between Ollie Ekers and the returning Lesiba Ngoepe was closed when Lezza nicked one behind the stumps. Ollie followed in the next over to put us on 47-3, with the opposition seemingly in the ascendancy. Evan Ackerman and Will Howard steadied the ship and put on 38 runs before Evan became the second run-out of the innings.
Next in was Jack Plom and between himself and Will started to build a partnership that was to remain unbroken for the rest of the game. Patiently waiting for the bad ball, the pace of the innings gradually increased as they would hit one ball an over to or over the boundary to keep up with the run chase. Will got to his 50 with a six heading to the pavilion whilst Jack hit 50 with a sweep round the corner for four. An unbroken partnership of 140 saw us home with over four overs to spare and a trip away to Goresbrook in the next round.
It was good to hear the club anthem in the dressing room afterwards and smiles on players faces, There is a sense of confidence that we could do something this season, starting with next week's game at home to Old Brentwoods. Let's hope that this isn't the start of a false new dawn.
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