CRICKET: WILLOUGHBY cruised to a comfortable nine wicket win at the weekend after a superb display with bat and ball saw the Rugby outfit dominate their game against Byfield.
Taking place on a flat deck, Byfield understandably decided to bat first.
But their decision soon backfired as Brown and Norman both fell for ducks while opener Moyce could only add 14 to the visiting side’s total.
Poncelett then fell for nine while Byfield were left struggling at 24/4.
Just five runs later Wheeler fell for a duck as Emery aimed to gain some pride with a knock of 32.
Street, Allen, and Lee all fell cheaply as Byfield relied on their tailenders to try and reach a three figure total.
But not even this was possible when Hall could only hit 14 – including three boundaries – as Byfield collapsed to a miserable 86 all out.
Nicholas Crane starred for Willoughby with the ball, taking four wickets for just 14 runs.
In reply, Willoughby made scoring look too easy.
Opening batsman Ian Hughes fell for 51 while the score stood at 71/0.
From there Martin Nicholls and Ashley Rayner knocked back the remaining 16 runs needed for victory as Willoughby cruised to a nine wicket win.
2ND XI
There was no such joy for Willoughby A on the road to Gawcott and Hillesden as the visiting side slumped to 137 all out before eventually losing by eight wickets.
Willoughby’s opening pair of Button and Thornton both fell for ducks to leave them at 0/2.
Graham Hallam also failed to score as Willoughby’s game looked over before it had even started as Gawcott and Hillesden reduced Willoughby A to 0/3.
Ganti and Rahman added 38 for the fourth wicket, but by then Willoughby required a miracle to turn the game around as all middle order batsmen failed to go on from their initial double figure score.
Panneerselvam and Ganti both reached 30 in an otherwise poor display as Willoughby were skittled out for 137.
In reply, Gawcott and Hillesden lost their first wicket when the score stood at 59 when Alex Piggott was caught by Graham Hallam off the bowling of Kamesh Ganti.
Richardson went on to hit 70 runs before he was caught by Ian Button.
It was then left to Arran Critchley and Colin Piggott to knock off the remaining runs as Willoughby ended up losing by eight wickets.
