‘That was our best game of the season’
Cove (162-10) Wokingham (163-4)
STUART HAYTER believes victory over Cove was Wokingham’s “best performance of the season”.
The Oaks travelled to Farnborough to face a side top of the Thames Valley Division 1 table with five wins from five, but a fine bowling display followed by patient batting sealed a six-wicket success.
It was a mixture of youth and experience which played key roles in the win with veteran spinner Paul Dewick posting brilliant figures of 7-50 to help bowl out Cove for 162 before youngster Archie Carter top scored with a half century 52 in the chase.
And captain Hayter (pictured) was delighted with the display.
“It was a really good win,” he told The Wokingham Paper.
“The pitch was quite dry and we put them in. It looked like a dewy deck and it turned out to be a dewy deck.
“We were really good in the field, Sharpy (Lewis Sharp) and the youngster Jacob (Clark) bowled well up top and we just contained them.
“They never really got away.
“Batting wise we just played quite sensibly. We took 45 overs to get it, took our time and it was probably our best performance of the season.”
In the first of nine ‘timed’ matches as opposed to the previous ‘win/lose’ games, Hayter won the toss and put the hosts in to bat.
And while Cove did bat for nearly 52 overs, they struggled to build up any momentum throughout their innings.
Opener Tom Redhead (1) was quickly removed by Clark before James Marsh (16) became Dewick’s first victim to leave the batting side 38-2.
Stanley Marisa offered some resistance with a knock of 31 in nearly two hours at the crease, but he saw two more partners fall by the wayside.
By the time he was clean bowled by Dewick, Cove sat on 83-5.
Captain Jordan Finney hit an important 34 before being caught off the bowling of Tom Wood and the innings ended at 162 all out after Dewick completed a seven-wicket haul by cleaning up the tail end.
Opener Stuart Parsons was stumped for just nine runs in the reply, but steady batting from Hayter (34) and Dan Housego (38) put the Oaks in command.
Carter top scored with 52 off 86 deliveries, including two sixes, before Michael Bates (16no) helped see the win over the line.
“We got wickets at key points,” said Hayter.
“It was a really good bowling performance, really tight and didn’t give them much leeway.
“We bowled better than they did on that deck.
“162 is a tricky total and on that deck it was doing a bit for the spinners.
“We had to dig in and just did it sensibly which was nice.
“We didn’t lose wickets in the way that they did which was the key to it.
“We got a couple of partnerships going and that was it really.”
He added: “Archie with the bat, for a young lad he’s played really sensibly for the last two weeks. I’ve been really impressed with him.
“And Paul, especially in the longer format where he can bowl more than 10 overs, it’s a good sign for this little period coming up.
“I’m really, really happy that he is able to bowl with that amount of control.
“We’ve got a pretty settled squad. We lost Cam (Spence) from last season which was a blow for us.
“He did a lot of good things for us last year but we’ve got a bit of a theory about how we’re going to play the game and Jarrett (Bobb) this year, even though he didn’t get any wickets at the weekend, him bowling in partnership with Paul is quite key for us.”
Perhaps the only thing missing from Wokingham’s start to the season is a half century for Hayter himself.
The skipper’s top score is a 47 against Marlow in week two, but he feels a top score is not far away.
“I started off alright with the 40 odd in the second game and then put bits and pieces together,” said Hayter.
“I’ve been better in the last two weeks (scores of 19 and 34).
“It’s tough opening the batting, but I take that responsibility on my shoulders and we’ll see how we go.
“I feel good at the moment, so we’ll just keep trucking along and I’m sure a score will be around the corner.” WOKINGHAM batting: Parsons 9, Hayter 34, Housego 38, Carter 52, Bates 16no, J. Wood
3no, Clark dnb, T. Wood dnb, Bobb dnb, Dewick dnb, Sharp dnb.
Bowling: Sharp 0-30, Clark 1-19, Dewick 7-50, T. Wood 1-26, Bobb 0-26.