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1's lose unbeaten record

1's lose unbeaten record

Chris Goldie24 Jun 2018 - 06:15
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Defeats for the 1's, 2's and 3's but the 4's and 5's see some battling tail-end batting

League Saturday 8 and Richmond's least successful day of the 2018 season. There were disappointing defeats for the 1's, 2's & 3's but a defiant winning draw for the 4's and an outstanding win for the 5's.
The 1's travelled to second-placed Ealing looking for a win that would have placed them in an almost unassailable position at the top of the Premier League. Instead, they put in their worst batting performance of the season and were comfortably beaten. Having won the toss and chosen to bat, the 1's set about the challenge extremely well, first as Cormac McLoughlin and Will Phillips put on 59 for the first wicket and then as Adam London and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala seemed to be laying down the foundations for a big score. At 129 for 2, with less that 15 minutes left before the lunch interval, a good morning's work seemed to have been done. However, the LBW's in the space of a few overs changed the game and from there on, the game took a very different direction. After lunch, Richmond's strong middle-order failed to click and the last 8 wickets had fallen for just 44 runs. On a slow and low pitch, Ealing's spinners had taken 5 wickets each and the target was by no means an easy one. However, the home team's openers clearly decided that they would be positive and they raced off to a score of 60 off just 7 overs before Adam London dismissed Garrett. 3 more wickets were taken by the time Ealing had reached 91 and the win was back on. But, Holt and Laws batted sensibly as Richmond failed to make a further breakthrough to carry the hosts through to a comfortable 6 wicket win. The 1's remain top but now just 10 points ahead of Ealing in second, 18 ahead of Hampstead in 3rd and 19 ahead of North Middlesex.
At Old Deer Park, the 2's also lost to Ealing in a game that ended up being far more exciting than it looked like being at one stage. Having been asked to bat, the 2's batting was a stop start affair with lots of players getting a start and then failing to go on. Without one person making a dominant innings, Richmond posted a modest 181 for 9 off 55 overs. In reply Ealing started well and looked set for an easy win, aided by some distinctly average fielding from the home side. However, Steven Deakin's excellent spell of 11 overs 4 for 35 led the fightback and going into the last over, Ealing required 10 to win 8 down. Their number 10 then hit a massive 6 off the first ball followed 2 balls later by another boundary to win with 3 balls remaining. The 2's are now 7th in the table.
The 3's posted an impressive 298/8 off 55 overs with Huzefa Sajawal's ton the highlight of the innings. However, the centurion's finger injury left the 3's with 10 fielders and on the very small ground, it was difficult to defend. North Midd got home by 4 wickets with 3 overs to spare.
The 4's bowled Hampstead out for 199 in the 54th over but found themselves 9 down with 8 overs remaining. However, staunch defence from our last pair was order of the day and the winning draw was secured. Like the 3's, the 4's are 5th in the table.
The 5's were the only winners of the day. Having bowled Hampstead 5's out for 139, Richmond's chase got off to a bad start but managed to get across the winning line 9 down to secure an excellent win.
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