Effingham Make Their Title Bid

With an inferior run-rate, Effingham knew that they needed a healthy score with the bat to give themselves an opportunity to challenge for the title. With the toss won against Epsom on Sunday night, the intentions were made clear to the boys to look to score every ball. As usual, the openers, Raymond and Sam P, did not disappoint, both reaching their retirement scores. But what really pleased me about their innings was that they eliminated the risks of getting out, where previously they had sometimes relied on some luck. After a healthy start, I wanted to see the middle order really buying into the push for runs. The early dismissal of Joshua was unfortunate, but Lucas and Sam Cobb put together a great stand together with contrasting techniques. While Lucas struck the ball well with more straighter shots, Sam realised that gentle knurdles to the corners were a great way to accumulate easy runs, and it may surprise some that he reached his 25 off only 13 balls, without a sniff of a boundary. Lucas also retired, leaving Sam Spencer to strike a nice 4 in the final over and take our score to season best 162-1 off 12 overs.

After climbing out of his sick bed, Sam P was not quite at his athletic best, but still bowled with good control to not allow Epsom to make a start with the bat. He was backed up by some steady bowling, and it was Sam Cobb who struck first, clipping the base of the wicket. Sam C then took a great reaction catch off the ceiling off Lucas’ bowling. Epsom were finding it hard to score and did not have the ability to take the quick singles like we had. They had one big hitter who took Raymond’s leg-spin on, and after being dropped twice in his first over, Ray snaffled a sharp return catch off the last ball to finally send him out. The game then fizzled out a bit with victory for Effingham a formality, but the boys all looked to be happy with their performances with beaming smiles and good humour.

So, the league table now makes interesting reading. Our heavy scoring did the trick and we now sit top. However, as we go into the final weekend of games, we need to beat T20 and still maintain a good run-rate to take the title.

Darren Wing