Travelling to a (fairly) new ground can have its trials and tribulations as we found out by going to Hylands Park to play Hornchurch Athletic in a game which could have defined the season. Many were playing there for the first time and its unusual configuration was strange to some, but a game still had to be played.
Losing the toss, we were asked to bat, possibly in the belief that the hosts could chase down any target we set them as there was some moisture in the pitch due to the ground being slightly over-watered in some areas. With the format reverting back to 50-overs a side, it was important to lay down a marker.
Theo Robinson (who had hit his second century of the season in midweek for the U19's in a cup victory at Upminster) and skipper Jamie Walton opened the batting, and it was Jamie who started as the aggressor, scoring 35 of the first 55 runs on the board before he was bowled by their second-change bowler. Sarthak Kohli was the next in. He seemed to struggle to get going and laboured to 13 (30 balls) before he was smartly stumped with the score on 98. Theo shortly went on to make his seventh half-century of the season (52 balls) as he and Tom Arnold re-built the innings. They put on 79 before Theo was given out LBW, 12 shy of his second century of the week (99 balls, 12 fours, 1 six). Tom then began to severely punish the bowling and despite wickets falling around him, got to his half-century from 63 balls. His was the eighth and final wicket in the innings to fall, also scoring 88 (87 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes) and the innings closed seven balls later with a challenging score on 265 on the board.
Sam Bear opened the bowling, looking to avenge his first-baller and wasted no time in achieving it as his second legitimate ball (having previously bowled a dot and a wide) thumped into the opening batsman's pad to give Shenfield the start they were hoping for. He then waited two more overs before repeating the same dose to the other opener to put the opposition score on 16-2. Sam seemed to be taking a liking to bowling odd-numbered overs, as in his fifth he claimed his third LBW! Not content with this though, he then decided their captain shouldn't be in for too long and cartwheeled his stumps two balls later to leave the home side in total disarray at 29-4 in less than nine overs and the match was just about over as a contest.
As the innings slowly tried to re-build, it was Tom Arnold who would eventually get rid of the two batsmen that looked likely to put any batting together, and at 69-6, it was a case of trying to get some respectability and batting points. They managed to get one, but not before Sam returned to obliterate the stumps one more time and grab his first five-wicket haul of the season (7.3-1-26-5). Dan Green had picked up a wicket in yet another tidy spell and Alex Rickenbach collected hi second wicket to wrap up the match. Hornchurch Athletic were bowled out for 132, having scored less than half the runs required.
With other results going our way, we jump back into second place knowing that promotion is back in our hands. Three wins will guarantee it, but there are no easy games. The way this division has played out this season, it will probably go down to the final week before positions are determined. Play well, win well; that's all we can hope for in the next three weeks.
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