Oaks stand tall after ninewicket win
Wokingham (181-1) Finchampstead 2s (180-10)
JARRETT BOBB took six wickets as Wokingham stormed to the top of the Thames Valley Premier Division 1 table with a thumping nine-wicket win over Finchampstead 2s.
Captain Stuart Hayter said he expected a tight game against the league’s strugglers, but it was oneway traffic at Sadlers End.
Bobb’s figures of 6-48 helped bowl out a Finch side still seeking their first win since earning promotion to this level.
And the Oaks made light work of the chase, reaching their target of 181 having used only three men with Stuart Parsons (78no) and Dan Housego (61no) seeing it home in the 36th over.
Hayter named an unchanged side from the one which defeated Cove the previous week and after making the breakthrough, Wokingham looked in control again.
Finches won the toss and opted to bat with openers Gary Loveday and Sam Jenkins putting on 31 for the opening wicket before Loveday fell for 21 off the bowling of Lewis Sharp.
Sharp quickly took his second to remove Simon Bell (3) and he went on to end with economical figures of 2-15 off his six overs.
Jenkins reached 24 before spinner Paul Dewick, who took seven wickets last week, claimed his only scalp of the innings.
Number four Ed Oliver was proving tough to shift, going on to top score with 60 runs, but after Tommie Predgen fell for 27 off the bowling of Jacob Clark, the Finches order collapsed.
The visitors went from 116-4 to 180 all out as Bobb took over, taking each of the last six wickets during a devastating spell.
Having given themselves the perfect platform to clinch victory, Wokingham batted sensibly and ensured they kept the game under wraps.
Hayter was the only man dismissed in the second innings, hitting 36 off 40 deliveries before being caught off the bowling of Matt Bell.
But Parsons and Housego could not be moved, hitting 19 boundaries between them to comfortably seal the win.
The Oaks travel to face fourthplaced Gerrards Cross on Saturday with just 17 points separating the two sides.
WOKINGHAM batting: Parsons 78no, Hayter 36, Housego 61no, Carter dnb, Bates dnb, J. Wood dnb, Clark dnb, T. Wood dnb, Bobb dnb, Dewick dnb, Sharp dnb. Bowling: Sharp 2-15, Clark 1-26, Dewick 1-72, T. Wood 0-15, Bobb 6-48.