A satisfying re-match win over local rivals...

We welcomed Northampton Saints to Horton on a lovely sunny afternoon for our return fixture against them. We were keen to put in a decent performance after we felt we had let that game slip from our grasp at their place.

We had also decided that Dylan would take the reins of the team on the field for this game with input when required from Alan and Lee Hilton. So when Dylan won the toss he decided to bowl, saying that he backed our batting lineup to chase whatever total the Saints team set.

Tom and Lewis opened the bowling and kept things tight for a while but with the pitch playing well and the outfield fast, the scoring started to build and chances were few and far between. Dylan decided to take pace off the ball and brought on Finlay Moffat to replace Tom. Straight away Finlay started to generate some turn and lift and slowed the scoring. This led Dylan to bring on Mitchell at the other end so we had spin at both ends. The score was 62-0 off 17 overs though and we were badly in need of a wicket. This arrived courtesy of a well judged catch by Adam at midwicket off Finlay, opener Lichfield out for 28. Finlay had a rest after a great spell of 1-18 off his 7 overs which brought on Lee Hilton to bowl his offspin - rolling back the years, Lee took a wicket in his first over thanks to a catch at point by John Jesu. At the halfway stage Saints were 72-2 and we were keen to ensure they didn't get away from us. The next 14 overs brought only one more wicket with Dylan getting the other opener LBW for 39 and a further 54 runs for Saints. Adam came on and took a wicket in his second over to help stem the runs before the last 5 overs were bowled by Tom and Viggy who decided to bowl seam rather than his usual spin. Both bowlers bowled really well with Tom deservedly getting his wicket by trapping the dangerous Marcus Bates LBW for 4 and Vignesh surprising a few of his team mates who were unaware of his seam bowling skills by taking 3 wickets in his only 2 overs - one bowled, one caught behind and one caught & bowled! Saints finished on 160 which may have been a few more than we'd have liked but with the pitch playing well and good batting conditions, we were confident of chasing the score down.

After tea, openers Lee Hilton and Adam Willis went out to start our reply. The partnership was going well as although Adam found it hard to get the ball away, Lee found some form and kept the scoreboard ticking. With the score on 33 in the 8th over, Adam was run out for 3 to bring Finlay Moffat to the crease to join Lee. However, only an over passed before Lee was out too, falling to a catch off opening bowler Brandon for a well paced 24. As Finlay started to get going Dan Hyde departed for 2 to bring Alan to the crease. A stand of 28 in around 6 overs ensued with most of these scored by Finlay who drove the ball very powerfully, whilst Alan found scoring very hard to say the least! (Must have been the distraction of being sledged by 14 year olds!) With Alan out to a top edged pull and Dylan caught behind for 0, the score was 79-4 off 17 overs so the scoring rate was fine but wickets were falling. Viggy joined Finlay and settled in to what we knew needed to be a good partnership and so it proved. Finlay became the 6th Horton batsman to score a Sunday 50 in this shortened season and so duly retired after hitting 8 4s in his powerful innings. This brought Mitchell to join Viggy with around 55 runs still needed but plenty of time to get them. Both batsmen took time to settle in and played very sensibly with lots of well taken singles and the occasional boundary. There were no further alarms as we reached the target in the 36th over with Viggy going to his second Sunday 50 with the winning shot, Mitchell having supported well and finishing on 12 not out.

This was a good win against a young but keen Saints side and showed the value of patience in putting together good batting partnerships when chasing down a score. This made it 1-1 against Saints and also 3 wins out of 6 for the Sunday team so far.

Thanks again to Rob Boffin for umpiring (and James Martin too), the scorers Lee Willis and George Pitt and all players for doing their bit. A special mention for Simon Dadge too who has prepared the ground and excellent wickets for all our Sunday games at Horton this year.

On to Grange Park for our last game of the season next week.

Alan Pitt