Promising season finishes on a low with one-wicket defeat
A season that initially promised much for Datchet finished on a low with Saturday’s one-wicket defeat to Tring Park.
Datchet’s form has faltered over the second half of the season, having been in the title race at one stage, and they once again struggled with the bat, making just 168 having been 74-2 at one stage after openers Joe Barrett (68) and Billy Mead (22) got them off to a positive start.
No one else in their line up was able to make a start as Jack Rodnight (3-52) and Steven Clark (3-14) each took three wickets as the middle and lower order folded.
It looked like Tring might collapse to an unlikely defeat when they collapsed to 18-5, but Barrett’s men weren’t able to force home their advantage as Rodnight (67) steadied the innings and guided the visitors to their target with one wicket to spare in the 38th over. Datchet finished the season fifth overall, a long way short of eventual champions High Wycombe who comfortably held off nearest challengers Henley.
Victories over champions Slough and Harefield in their final two matches guided relegation threatened Wargrave to safety.
Neal Robinson’s men were in danger of being dragged back down into the Thames Valley League alongside Burnham going into the final weekend, but they held their nerve, and built on last weekend’s morale-boosting win over Slough to defeat Harefield by two wickets.
Again, it was an excellent display in the field, with Mandip Sohi taking 5-12 as Harefield were dismissed for 136 in the 42nd over. Wargrave’s batsmen also stumbled badly in their reply, falling to 59-8, with Thomas Crick taking four wickets, but Robinson (50no) and Jarryd Wallace (35no) produced a magnificent rear-guard display to guide the side to victory and send Harefield down in their place.
Burnham’s sorry season finished with another defeat, their 15th of the summer, as they lost by two wickets to Great Brickshill. However, there will have been elements of this performance that captain Rizwan Nadeem will have been encouraged by.
Visitors Great Brickshill won the toss and elected to bat, making 260-8 from their 50 overs, with Jonathan Carter scoring a magnificent 103no. However, Burnham came within a boundary of victory as they reached 258-7 before running out of overs. Hamza Afzaal got them off to a cracking start, making 53, while runs in the middle order from Shaan Khan (35) and Faisal Choudhary (64) kept them on track. It was left to Usman Baig (25no) and Mirza Nasir Baig (18no) to get the hosts over the line, but they just couldn’t manage as they chased what would have been an impressive final day victory.