On arrival at Woldingham's picturesque ground, it seemed unlikely that we would play, with a steady drizzle enveloping the ground and the pitch wetter than an otter's pocket. The rain stopped at 2pm however and having lost the toss, MWCC were put into bat. Messrs Furner and Abbott opened the batting and after 15 overs the Mogs were a very healthy 65-0. Abbott soon went though, skying a drive and being well caught for a meaty 36, but Hewitt came in at No 3 and kept the scoreboard ticking over with a run a ball 42. Furner batted on, completing a steady 50, which did include a 6 much to his (and our) surprise and Tharp came in at 4, slogging a quick 20 before holing out. Martin D helped the Mogs reach a respectable 177-3 in just 36 overs.
After an excellent tea, umpire Chris Davies had us promptly out and despite having half an hour less time than Woldingham, we completed our overs quickly, giving ourselves a possible 42 overs to bowl them out. It was a cloudless blue sky by now and Honeyfield & Jo Lewis opened the bowling. Despite beating the bat regularly they could not prize the openers from the crease and the score was 10-0 after 8. In a bid to get Woldingham going, (Pete) Martin and Furner came on and the Major soon bagged the 1st wicket, with one that turned and bounced, well caught by Tharp bravely standing up to the Major's fierce "leggies".
Woldingham's captain and their No 3 kept the Mogs at bay and with 2 overs to go before the 20 overs started, they had reached 79-1 with a mixture of near misses and boundaries, ensuring some entertaining cricket for everyone (except the bowlers!). Hewitt finally got their No 3 however, caught excellently by Jo Lewis at Long On and as the last 20 overs started, Woldingham needed 95 to win with 8 wickets in hand. Matt Lewis had started a spell from the pavilion end and he soon bowled Woldingham's No 4 and trapped their No 5 LBW in the same over.
Abbott came on at the playground end and removed Woldingham's skipper (another great catch by Jo Lewis), before bowling their No 7. The Mogs had the scent of victory now and Lewis took three more catches - including a sharp catch by Hewitt at gulley - finishing with bowling figures of 5-20 from 12 overs. Paul Whitehurst rolled back the years in a 3 over spell at the death, completing a good afternoon for all the Mogs players.
Report by: Alex Hewitt
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