On a deceptively hot Summer's afternoon, Mogador Wanderers were entertained by Wimbledon at their splendid ground opposite the main gates of the All England Club. Having lost the toss, the Mogs took the field with Abbott & Rice opening up. Both bowled exceptionally well with Abbott returning figures of 1-19 and Rice 2-35 leaving Wimbledon 60-3 after 16 of their allotted 40 overs. Special mention must go to Abbo, who not only bowled beautifully well, but did so wearing a white, figure hugging body suit, normally seen on speed skaters or 100m runners. Confidence was high but the Mogs support bowlers were not able to keep the pressure on as Briggs (despite a wicket with his first ball), both Lewis's (both of whom had Toys R Us moments), Honeyfield (showing signs of wear and tear from the night before) & Hewitt (as before) were put to the sword in a 5th wicket stand of 163 between Wimbledon skipper Drummond (96) and Chaudhary (73*). Wimbledon reached 245-5 from their allotted 40 overs and the Mogs retreated to the confines of Wimbledon's imperious pavilion for fresh sandwiches, sausage rolls, chicken drumsticks and reruns of Inzaman Al Huq's hilarious dismissal in the 3rd Test at Headingley.
Abbott was asked to open the batting with Jackson and after 5 minutes in the oxygen tent, the Mogs started our assault. Both played well though did not find the boundary quite as often as we needed and the partnership of 73 in 17 overs was brought to an end when Jackson (37) was smartly stumped by Wimbledon's keeper Balfour. Abbott (33) followed in identical fashion 2 overs later and when Tharpy top edged for a second ball duck, the Mogs were 85-3 with half of their overs gone. With the run rate at 8 an over the middle order of Harris, Hewitt & Honeyfield opened their shoulders and all three of them got into the 30's before perishing looking for maximums. A brief flurry from Pilau brought hope, but he lost his off stump, Joseph too and Colonel Cuzza brought an end to the pain by running himself out, selflessly giving us an additional 5 minutes at the bar.....it was a good game against a very nice bunch of lads, but we were short of one big innings from a member of our top order.....
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