Double Defeat

Woodhall Spa 1stXI slipped to its second consecutive defeat on Saturday when the young and inexperienced side were well beaten by Lincolnshire ECB Premier League title contenders Grantham.

The afternoon started well for the home side after winning the toss and electing to bat on a wonderful Jubilee Park pitch and during the innings were well placed on two occasions. Prassana Jaywardene opened the innings with Jack Timby but fell to superb catch at square leg for just 5, however Chris Anderson and Timby then had taken the score to 54 and looked well set before the former was adjudged caught behind for 19. A further wicket was lost but then an excellent run-a-ball partnership between Timby and skipper Jack Luffman ensued. The latter showing a glimpse of a return to form before suffering an Achilles injury that meant he needed a runner. This didn’t sway the pair and in the meantime Timby passed another well-crafted and mature half century. The pair had taken the score to 131 with 20 overs remaining but disaster then struck when both lost their wickets in the same over to the part time bowling of Ashley. A batting collapse of old then was witnessed as the home side slipped to 168 all out with former Nottinghamshire CCC all-rounder Dan Freeman taking 6-24 including a hat-trick to finish off the innings.

The home side didn’t fair much better on the bowling front despite an early wicket form Jean-Pierre Prinsloo as the visitors crossed the winning line for the loss of just two wickets. Luffman used no less than seven bowlers in a bid to take some wickets and earn more points but it wasn’t to be for the Spa on this particular day.

On Sunday, the Wanderers 1stXI played its part in an absolute run fest at home to Sleaford. The visitors elected to bat first and posted a mammoth 259-3 from their 40 overs. The bowling and fielding from the home side wasn’t of the highest calibre but they were put under some severe pressure from a well loaded batting line up. Matt Haslam bowled 10 tidy overs for just 32 runs amongst the mayhem while Jean-Pierre Prinsloo claimed two of the wickets to fall.

In reply, the Spa side got off to an absolute flyer thanks mainly to another superb innings from Jack Timby. He showed what a good track it was with shots all around the wicket and took the third over of the innings for 20. He put on 45 with Captain Chris Anderson in just four overs and then 89 with Matthew Law (39) with the home side were always above the run-rate while he was at the crease. He passed another half-century and looked well on his way to a fine 100 before losing his wicket for 81 form just 54 deliveries. Spa hung in to try and push themselves to a victory but despite some late order hitting form Danny Wells (18) and Prinsloo (27) they fell short by just 32 runs.

Jack Timby was a shining light over the weekend with 68 and 81 in the two games.