GARGOYLES SPIRITS DAMPENED
Just how do you lose a match from a position of 130 for 0 wickets after 17 overs? After openers Neil Shotton and captain John Salt had posted a record breaking first wicket partnership of 130, it’s a result that defies belief. Both openers batted with increasing fluency which reached peaks of gay abandon on their way to unbeaten fifties. Andy Siddons, with 33 and Sunil Angris with 24, kept the scoreboard ticking over, but at a slower rate. Slowly but surely the Wootton bowlers turned the screw and restricted Alstonefield to less than 4 runs an over in the second half of the innings. Still 204 for 4 on a slow, damp wicket was a competitive total.
Then the heavens opened, the ball became greasy and bowling accurately became a real problem. Against a top drawer batting line up, products of the wonderful Wootton youth academy, all the Gargoyles’ bowlers struggled with line and length and were going for 7 runs an over. Add some horrendous ground fielding, which leaked boundaries like a broken downpipe, to 4 dropped catches, and suddenly Wootton had sailed past the target with 6 wickets and 4 overs to spare in the torrential rain. 205 for 4 and victory for Wootton by 6 wickets.
Everyone got well and truly soaked, but it was the losers who looked like they would take some time to recover. And Oakamoor next!