TO THE WIRE!

LHCC v Downley 7June

Ley Hill lost a tense and exciting match to Downley with just two overs left.  Batting first, Ley Hill’s opening four batsmen made just 20 runs between them, and at 41-4 it didn’t look very promising.  Fortunately Ollie Runswick hit an excellent 64 and Craig Peterson made it two half-centuries in succession with 54.  Jake Wells’s knock of 23 meant Runswick had shared two half-century partnerships and these helped push Ley Hill’s score to 168-9.  In truth, the score should not have reached this.  Dowley dropped five catches – including Rusnwick on both nought and 14 - which proved very costly.
Graham Aitken bowled his usual canny medium pace to end with 2-44 and Willans took 4-45 despite playing through the pain barrier after injuring his shoulder mid-spell attempting a diving catch.
When Downley’’s first wicket fell for only 9 runs, the Hill thought it was their day but Idrees (40) and Brown (30) helped pushed the score up to 135-8.  Aitken – not the world’s greatest batsemen – played a superb 11 to keep the tension up but with just 4 runs needed to win, Dowley lost their 8th wicket and the next batsman in was a tale-ender in every sense – only no one had told him and he expertly drove his first ball to the boundary for the winning runs.
Felix Chamberlain (2-18) and Gary Helm (2-25) were the pick of the Hill bowlers, although Jon Lown’s full spell of 12 overs for only 34 runs certainly deserved some wickets.

Robin Carr