OLD MID-WHITGIFTIAN 116 Saqlain Mushtaq 7-27

OLD WHITGIFTIANS 118-3 D Ward 54*

Old Whitgiftians won by 7 wickets

Saqlain Mushtaq turned in another match-winning performance as Old Whitgiftians proved too strong for Old Mid-Whitgiftian at Lime Meadow on Saturday, writes Rob Keenan.

Saqlain followed up his eight wicket haul against Farnham by taking 7-27 while David Ward hit an unbeaten 54 as the OWs ex-professionals enjoyed another fruitful afternoon.

Having lost the toss and been inserted, Mids made a bright start with Ben Shorten and Richard Piggin batting beautifully against the opening attack.

They scored 43 in less than seven overs before Shorten was given out caught behind for 20.

However, the introduction of the division’s most potent spin attack changed the complexion of the match completely and whilst in-form Saqlain was always going to prove a daunting proposition for Mids they will have been disappointed with the manner of some of the dismissals.

Piggin was tempted by a clever short ball from Saqlain and was caught by Ali Raja who had just been moved to deep square leg.

Whilst Mids were able to defend adequately enough against Saqlain they found themselves in trouble when they tried to attack with McSherry and Sales both presenting straight-forward catches to fielders.

Rob Warne and Nick Cook frustrated the OWs for a time to take the score beyond 100 but when both batsmen were out in successive overs OWs began to turn the screw.

The OMW tail proved no match for Saqlain as Mids lost their last six wickets for just 14 runs.

Ed Parsons finished with 2-7 at the other end as Mids were bowled out in the 40th over for just 116.

Mids were unable to take a difficult chance to dismiss Mike Winson early in the OWs reply and Winson went on to score 29 in an opening stand of 77 with David Ward which effectively ended the match as a contest.

Although Gavin Piper bowled tidily, Mark Roberts struggled to find his line and John McSherry received some harsh treatment from Ward in particular.

Last week’s hero Tony Brugnoli finally ended the stand, removing Winson’s middle stump, and Nick Cook took a good catch in the covers to dismiss Lewis as Mids looked to salvage some pride.

Alex Goward batted with wild abandon, smashing 21 from just 14 balls before swinging once too often at Carpenter and being caught by Richard Piggin.

Ward batted throughout to complete another half-century while Tom Woodrow hit the winning runs off his first ball as OWs cruised to a seven-wicket win.

Mids’ season will not be defined by this game but rather by matches in weeks to come and victories for two of the struggling sides have added greater importance to Saturday’s match at home to Old Emanuel.