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Quantock Stags lost to Doctors by 22 runs Doctors 147
for 4
Stags 125
for 8
Doctors were put in to bat on a Holford strip which, apart from occasional low bounce, favoured the batsmen. Graham Fergusson was at his regal best and, having effortlessly stroked a six and 5 fours, was obliged to retire on 30 midway through the fourth over. The innings stuttered as Pete Dickens (1-9) was rewarded for bowling straight and Jeff Shaw (1-21) made another incision to make the score 35 for 2. James Murdoch and Harry Lee repaired the damage with an enterprising partnership characterised by dynamic running. Lee played the sensible anchor role and Murdoch unleashed a series of exquisite cover drives as the Stags bowlers laboured to defend the short boundaries. When Murdoch (31 n.o.) had to retire the situation got worse as Dave Hollis (30 n.o.) gave the ball a fearful lashing and in no time he too had retired. Lee (32 n.o.) took on the strike role and when he became the fourth Doctors batsman to reach the retirement figure Stags were looking down the barrel. Great credit was due to Tony Fawle (2-7) and S.Bean who bowled well at the death and kept the total to manageable proportions. By now the ball was old and soft but John Down’s impeccable line and length paid dividends as his hostile spell of 3 for 10 put the pressure on the home side. Holford is a dangerous place for an off spinner to bowl and Jeremy Budd came in for harsh treatment initially at the hands of J.Coates (27), but Budd (1-33) is a cricketer with strength of character and he came back well to get his tormentor caught by Sam Powell who took his second excellent catch at midwicket. Hollis bowled a fine spell of accurate and fast bowling and Powell again bowled quick and straight but without any luck, but Tim Martin and Gordon Elkins kept the scoreboard ticking and when Elkins (14) was bowled by Hollis (2-17) the Stags had a strong platform from which to push for victory. Martin (30 n.o.) had to retire but Stags’ main man Steve Dickens was in and hit his first ball for 4. The Stags were looking like favourites to win until Dickens pushed the next ball into the covers and set off for a single. He badly underestimated his man as Harry Lee pounced like lightening and Dickens was still 2 yards short when, with one stump to aim at, Lee shattered the wicket. Dave Wilsden (17 n.o.) hit out bravely but Joe Lee bowled a fine containing spell and when Fawle was well caught and bowled by Peter Reed (1-30) the task of scoring 29 from the last over proved impossible. |
