Match Report: Aug 14, 2011: Pangbourne vs West Reading
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Pangbourne won by 4 wickets - View full scorecard
Mo launches Pangbourne to another victory
Pangbourne were due to host Purley up at the college, their withdrawal (not being able to get a team together) could have resulted in a cricket free weekend, but thankfully Dave (fixture sec) managed to find alternative opposition in West Reading CC.
It was a little bit of a voyage into the unknown as Pangbourne have never played West Reading before, but there was a hope that it would be a good close game. So it was with a little trepidation that Pangbourne took to the field, looking to make use of the traditional inconsistencies in the wicket and take some early wickets. West Reading started very aggressively, throwing the bat at almost everything and got off to a bit of a flyer. Ahamed took a bit of stick, being clubbed for a pretty massive 6 in one over. In the third over Dan managed to nip one back through the gate to get the initial breakthrough, but this didn't seem to stop West Reading from attacking.
The danger man appeared to be West Reading's Ahmed who was racing along, but in the 5th over his attacking style brought his downfall as he skied a drive to mid-on where Mully took an excellent, if somewhat theatrical, catch. From this point on Pangbourne continued to take regular wickets, Paul Smith picked up two, bowling his now customary tight lines, and Jack bowled some filth which still managed to take four wickets. It should be noted that Pangbourne were excellent in the field, there were no dropped catches and the ground fielding on an uneven surface was good. All of this combined to bowl West Reading out for 127 with a number of overs to spare.
Such a target wouldn't normally be difficult to achieve, but with a deteriorating pitch and a big, slow outfield, Pangbourne knew they would have to be careful. The openers went fairly cheaply followed soon after by Neil, but by that time Mo was at the crease and was starting find the boundary with ease. Mo seems to only know one way to play, but when it comes off it can be explosive and runs come very quickly. Jack provided some support until he was out LBW. It should be noted that if this was a professional game he would probably have had some explaining to do to the match referee and be handing over some of his match fee for his reaction to the decision.
Nevertheless, Mo continued on and he was ably supported by Mully, despite a number of attempts to run himself out. Mo finally ended up being bowled for 56, but by that time only a few more runs were needed for the win. These were calmly knocked off and Pangbourne registered another win.
Next up another first encounter, this time with Wallingford Hockey Club, but hopefully the result will be the same.
