Foxton 2nd XI
A strong Foxton team beat a struggling Babraham side by 4 wickets. With the return of several key players, the team were able to add to an already strong unit that had gained their first win of the season last week. After losing the toss and fielding first, Foxton’s opening bowlers, Matt Wesley and captain Tommy Williams immediately put Babraham under pressure with some great swing bowling. Wesley made the breakthrough, removing both Babraham openers before they could really trouble the scorers. Williams lead well from the front and bowled his 10 overs straight through, finishing with outstanding figures of 10-1-17-1. At drinks the Foxton bowlers had limited Babraham to less than 3 runs an over. Tim lee having bowled 4 consecutive maidens before drinks and finishing with figures of 10-4-28-2. After drinks Chris Punshon began to take the attack to Foxton. Williams rotated the bowling with Andy Watson 3-0-24-0 and Kris Varadhan 2-0-15-1. The introduction of Manners brought about the wicket of Punshon for 71 when he skied the ball straight to Wicketkeeper Rob Jarvis. Wesley was re-introduced and together with Manners produced some very good “death bowling” to frustrate the Babraham batsmen. Manners finished with figures of 7-1-34-1, while Wesley picked up 2 further wickets to finish with great match figures of 8-0-29-4, as Babraham were restricted to 153-9 from their 40 overs.
In response to Babrahams total, Foxton set about chasing down the total briskly. George Dean showed good intent and ability as he scored a fluid 23, before being caught by Hull off of the bowling of Bardsley. Although well ahead of the run rate, wickets fell with regularity as Watson (3), Varadhan (6), May (3), and Jarvis (3) failed to get going. Lionel Griffen added stability to the team with a well crafted innings of 54 before being bowled by Hull. Griffen ran well between the wickets to get himself going before using his natural attacking game to plunder boundaries at will. With his departure, Babraham would have felt they were back in with a chance. But a terrific partnership between Tim Lee (28no) and Steve Ward (20no) put an end to their hopes, seeing Foxton home with more than 5 overs to spare. Both players exchanged singles, rotating the strike regularly, giving all the Babraham bowlers headaches.
Foxton will be aiming to keep their winning run going when they play Ashdon at home on the 28th of May