Hampshire South West Regional Division 2

HYTHE & DIBDEN 2nd XI vs WEST MOORS

7th June 2008

Hythe Crushed by Opening Spell

Hythe were well beaten by a good West Moors side this afternoon whose opening bowlers had Hythe reeling at 48 for 6 after 21 overs. Hythe's tail end took the green caps to 95 all out and though always in control the visitors took 37.1 overs to win the game.

Hythe won the toss and elected to bat first.

On a sunny afternoon Hythe won the toss and Gary Howe elected to bat first with the thought that West Moors struggled to chase down victory the week before.

But Hythe were soon in trouble when Sean Tongs was clean bowled by Bradley on the 6th ball of the innings. West Moors were delighted as they felt 'The Guru' was Hythe's trump card. Porter then hit Norris over the top for 4 before coming Bradley's second wicket with the score on 11 for 2. Edwards joind Effeny in the middle but his poor season continued bowled by B.Norris for 4 - Hythe 20 for 3. In Norris next over Hythe were 4 down - Wayne Effeny bowled for 9.

Poor Mike Bowman in the pavilion couldn't believe whats going on - the best side Hythe 2nd XI had put out all season and they were being crushed. Richie Froggett and Richard Last then started a mini recovery but with the score on 48 off 21 overs Rich Froggett became the impressive Bradley's third wicket caught in the gully at third attempt by Edmunds for 13. Three balls later and Gary Howe was yorked for 0 and Hythe were in big trouble at 48 for 6 with all their recognised batsman back in the hutch.

Last was next to go bowled by S.Norris for 15 with the score on 50 for 7. Gary Bradley finished his spell for West Moors 12-5-18-4 an impressive piece of bowling including three yorked wickets. Matt Young joined Greg Woods in the middle and the pair took the score to 67 before Matt Young was bowled by S.Norris for 5. With 13 overs still to go the instructions were to try and bat out the overs. Chalky White took the comments on board but when Greg Woods was caught and bowled for 12 Hythe were a dismal 73 for 9. Pete Stevens jnr joined Chalky and the pair played some decent shots as they took the score upto 95 before Stevens was bowled for 10 by W.Norris. Chalky finished on 15 not out joint top score but I.m sure he's already told you.

After tea Hythe knew they had to get quickly into the opposition. Froggett and Edwards bowled well without any luck and the first 10 overs went for just 12 runs. Edwards had Johnson dropped by Tom Porter and Froggett missed out on a caught and bowled. The opening bowlers bowled in tandum for 19 tidy overs with West Moors only picking up 35 - unfortunately they couldn't find the breakthrough. Mike Edwards 9 overs costing just 17 runs.

Gary Howe brought on Wayne Effeny & Chalky White and White struck in his first over Edmunds L.B.W for 25 with the score on 42. It wasn't until the 27 over that Hythe gained another scalp. With the score on 61 White claimed two more wickets in two overs having Johnson well caught by Tongs in the deep and Wijesinghe caught behind by Gary Howe. Effeny continued to bowl a tidy spell his first 6 overs costing just 16 runs. White meanwhile had 3-12 off 6. Blandford then started to play his shots hitting 5 fours in 30 before being caught behind off the bowling of Wayne Effeny. 87 for 4 off 35 overs needing just 11 runs to win.

Rich Froggett came back to bowl his final over and deservedly picked up the wicket of Fulton for 12 and finishing with 1-22 off 12 overs which should earn him a recall to the firsts next week. One ball later and the game was all over West Moors the winners by 5 wickets but all credit to the Hythe bowlers for making a game of it.

Innings of : HYTHE 95 All Out (37.1 Overs)

Innings of : WEST MOORS 96 For 5 (37.1Overs)

(R.Blandford 30, C.Edmunds 25, G.Johnson 22)

Hythe Bowling