CORSHAM 3rds reversed the form from the opening week of the season to claim
their first win of the season in Division Two of the Wiltshire League.
Having lost to Swindon 3rds the previous week, Corsham turned things around
in style by beating Highworth away from home by eight wickets.
Highworth were unbeaten for two seasons and Corsham expected a difficult
match.
On inspection of the wicket, runs looked to be at a premium and this proved
to be correct with the first innings lasting only 27.4 overs.
After some interesting movement off the pitch from the earlier overs,
wickets fell at regular intervals until Lee Beaver came to the wicket with
three wickets down. If one player can change the direction of a game, then
Beaver almost proved it. A fleeting innings of 48, including four fours and
four sixes, was ended by a juggling catch by Mark Hadrill off his own
bowling.
Steve Hunt's introduction of medium pace bowling was spectacular in its own
right. His first five balls produced 21 runs before he bowled an advancing
Paul Davies with the final ball of the over. His length improved over the
next two overs and he snaffled two more wickets in the next 12 balls to
leave the home side reeling.
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Hadrill toiled without reward for another six overs, conceding only six runs
before he managed to squeeze the ball between bat and pad of the limpet-like
Steve Close. Despite the indifferent wicket and the committed batting from
the Highworth team, the total of 133 could have been a tricky one for the
visiting team.
Tricky was the correct description as Matt Thatcher and Steve Close made the
openers struggle for runs. Only seven runs came from the first five overs,
with Chris Bultitude and Gavin Salter both falling to lbw decisions within
six balls of each other.
The run rate crawled along at only two an over until the decision to bring
Lee Beaver on from the top end. Hadrill hit the quicker bowler for 12 runs
in his second over and the shackles seemed to be removed from the Corsham
batting.
In 23 overs Ali Goddard and Hadrill played economically and selectively,
amassing 130 runs for the third wicket. Goddard brought up his 50 with a
flat-batted shot over the bowler's head and Hadrill claimed his half-century
with a full blooded drive through mid-on.
Despite the obvious pressure on both teams, the game was played in good
spirits and an enjoyable but hard fought victory went to the Corsham team in
the 30th over.
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