For the first time this season we managed to get some cricket in this weekend, however it was not completely unaffected.
The saturday 2nd XI game was cancelled against Goring 2nd XI due to their pitch being waterlogged. Also the Sunday 2nd XI fixture was cancelled due to the opposition getting in a mix up with their fixtures. The Saturday 1st XI and 3rd XI both played.
The 1st XI unfortunately fell short, losing in the final over of a tense game against Goring 1st XI. Goring won the toss on a decided to bowl first on a slow and low wicket. Jack Metters and Bradley Bridson started well with a partnership of 35 before Bradley was dismissed by their overseas bowler. Jack also didn’t managed to convert a good start making 23, however we pushed on to a reasonable position of around 67-3. Our middle order then collapsed losing 5 quick wickets, before Graham Manser (17*) and Sam Mannings (24) built a much needed partnership of over 50. We finished our innings 122 all out.
After tea, James Iago dismissed Goring’s opening batsman with the first ball of their innings giving us a great start. Graham Manser and James Iago then picked up 6 wickets between them putting us into a very strong position with the score at around 75-7. However their main batsman, Dan Pitham, was not dismissed and built a useful partnership with their number 9 until he was dismissed by Manser with less than 5 overs to go. Going went into the last over Goring needed 3 runs to win with us needing just 2 wickets. Dan Pitham hit the winning boundary with 2 balls to spare ending up on 60 odd not out. James and Graham ended up with 5 and 3 wickets respectively. Fndon picked up 6 points from the game.
The Saturday 3rd XI had better fortunes with a reasonably comfortable win over Rustington. Rustington batted first making 143 all out from 45 overs with Gordan Corre picking up 3 wickets on his 3rd XI debut. Findon then knocked off the runs with Jason Nicholls making 39, Jamie Lewis hitting the first fifty of the season and Bradley Beale stearing the team home with 20 odd. The 3rd XI are now sitting nicely at the top of the league as all the other fixtures in the league were cancelled due to the conditions of the pitch.
