Southgate ‘zoomed’ to the top of the Middlesex County League Division Three (well, equal top) with an exciting three wicket win in Harrow.
The match proved that you don’t need a run fest to provide an exciting game of cricket.
Earlier, Darragh Edwards (6-32) produced his best bowling figures for the club as he ran through the batting of the home team. Bowling with skill and accuracy, aided by new opening bowler recruit, Jack Upton (1-36), Darragh forced batsman after batsman into injudicious early season shots as the home team collapsed to an extraordinary 36-7.
The home eight wicket pair fought back well, aided by an extremely adjacent but disallowed lbw appeal, which would have given Darragh a seventh wicket, and they added 58. Slower bowlers, Ravi Desai and David Woffinden entered the fray, each slipping comfortably into gear for the new season, with the latter mopping up the tail with 3-10.
A target of 95 required one of the team’s only three experienced first eleven batsmen to score fifty (Michael Stevens was engaged in Rome for the weekend).
However, with two of the three, Jamie Jouning and Tom Edrich, failing, and with Dr Shiv, James Dangerfield and Max Joseph each failing to capitalize on reasonable starts to their innings, the low target seemed a long way off against a steady and varied attack.
Phil Dunnett (30) looked as though he might retrieve the situation until he was rather bizarrely run out and at 64-7 Southgate were in a similar situation to their opponents.
Veteran Woffinden, resplendent as ever in his white floppy hat, joined youngster Darragh Edwards and they slowly eked their way towards a distant target.
The home team then played what they believed to be their trump card. A fast bowler, a good variation to the wily spin and steady medium pace seen hitherto. His first two balls were ‘high, wide and handsome’, at which point Woffers shouted the immortal words ‘If he’s going to bowl like that, I’ll have my helmet’.
The arrival of said headset altered Woffers’ batting mindset from his usual skittish number nine type batsman into a technically correct accomplished batsman which he has always been. Darragh, too, proved his own ability and the pair steered their team into a winning position.
Peter Jouning
Scorecard can be found here: https://southgate.play-cricket.com/website/results/4184313