Beavers strength evident

ANDREW REYNOLDS BRAMHALL’S 2nd XI picked up a very timely victory on Saturday as Oxton visited Church Lane, aided by arguably the strongest side they’ve been able to put out so far.

Asked to bat first on a green-tinged wicket, the Beavers made a steady start with an opening stand of 83 from almost 30 overs.

Danny Woodside was the first to fall, making a solid 44, but his opening partner Andy Reynolds rode some early luck to pass his 50.

More positive contributions with the bat were made by Adam Siddall (17) and Ed Daber (31) as they helped Reynolds get the score north of 150 before the latter fell for 71 in the 47th over.

Despite losing a few more wickets in the closing overs, the final total of 190-7 from their 50 overs looked competitive.

After tea, all-rounder Siddall made the perfect start for Bramhall with a wicket in the first over, and his continued nagging accuracy and movement eventually saw him take five wickets in a miserly 12 over spell going for just 15 runs.

The other bowlers managed to mix in some good deliveries, with some that were a little too short for the slow wicket, but matters weren’t helped by several catches going down behind the wicket.

However, James Oliver and Matt Madeira took two wickets apiece across their two respective spells and despite a defiant knock of 80* from Oxton’s number four, the Beavers were able to finish the innings in 40 overs with Oxton 51 runs adrift on 139.

Consistency of player availability is just one aspect the seconds will need if they are to haul in the teams above them, as they remain adrift at the foot of Division One. However, with multiple bright spots shown with the bat & ball, there is no reason to believe that a string of victories between now and the end of the season is not achievable.