Dean and Waltham are ‘doing it the right way’
National Village Cup: Clubs to clash in Village Cup after Waltham win thriller
Two teams currently playing the game in the ‘right spirit’ – with an emphasis on having fun over relentlessly seeking results – will meet in the Berkshire final of the Voneus National Village Cup.
Cookham Dean comfortably overcame Sonning the weekend before last to reach the county final, while White Waltham squeezed into final by the slimmest of margins as they won a tied encounter with Wraysbury after losing fewer wickets.
Dean have also excelled in earlier rounds of the competition with 14-year-old Alfie Agar hitting an unbeaten 74 to launch his team to victory over Binfield.
Looking ahead to
Sunday’s final, Cookham captain Greg Davis said:
“We managed to beat Sonning to make it through to the Berkshire final where we’re away to White Waltham.
“They had a very close match with Wraysbury, a team with a good squad for the Village Cup who we've had our fair share of wins and defeats against.
“The game went down to the last over and they managed to chase down a competitive total.
“Like us they seem to be a team that’s having fun. They’ve got a new recruit who’s moved from Boyne Hill and is thoroughly enjoying it there.
“They’re a club that’s doing it the right way, they’re having fun and playing competitive cricket.
“I think with the Jubilee Celebrations it’s going to be one of the best places to be on Sunday, and I’m sure they’ll welcome us with great hospitality.”
W White Waltham’s game with Wraysbury couldn't have been much closer, with the Waltham edging through to the final by virtue of losing eight wickets to the visitor’s nine.
Cloudesley Long bowled what would prove to be two match-winning death overs, picking up four wickets for the addition of just eight runs – including two in the final four balls – as Wraysbury closed on 210 for 9. He finished with figures of 5 for 51.
In reply, the home side needed just four runs off the final over before Andy Prasad took two wickets to take the match to the final ball, but the hosts edged home on 201-8 to win by two wickets.
Waltham had lost Dan Molloy and Michael Chapman early doors before contributions from Ben Scarborough (56 off 56), Nikhil Jathavedan (44 off 51) and Callum Thompson (48 off 38) put them on the brink of victory.
Thompson was dismissed with just 13 runs required from 15 balls and that equation shrank to four off the final over, prompting Wraysbury skipper Prasad to bring himself back into the attack.
He struck with his first delivery, M Nawaz taking the catch to dismiss Mohindru, before conceding three runs off his next three balls to tie the scores. With the penultimate delivery he snared Luke Scarborough to reduce White Waltham to 210 for 8 but Beard survived the final ball to seal the win for his side.
Prasad finished with figures of 3 for 29 while Yaseen took 2 for 43. M Nazaz was the other wicket-taker.
Waltham will host Cookham Dean in the Berkshire final on Sunday, June 5.
Dean demolished Sonning by 154 runs in their round three clash, with skipper Davis scoring 148 runs off 75 balls and Sawan Gandesha collecting 4 for 33.