Cricket: Marlborough first and seconds lose as the season nears its end

 

Marlborough Cricket Club1st XI (184/7) lost to Marshfield (189/5) by 5 wickets.  

The 1st XI lost a very frustrating performance by five wickets to Marshfield on Saturday.
Having won the toss and electing to bat, Marlborough got off to a slow but steady start.

It was not easy for the openers as the Marshfield bowlers gave Nick Crabbe (21)
and Ben Head (9) nothing that they could get away.

The first change bowlers carried on as the openers left off, yet they didn’t look too threatening to
Tom Norris (69) and James Richardson (41) who both batted very well with ‘Chucky’ hitting the
bad ball for a boundary and the in-form James playing in his aggressive style.  James was then
dismissed by a very good caught and bowled.

With Marlborough at 137-3 off 38 overs, they were set up nicely for a big push in the last ten overs
with seven wickets in hand. However only another 50 runs were able to be put on by the tail before the rain eventually came.

Marlborough finished on 184-7 off 46 after a frustrating shower meant that Marlborough lost their remaining overs and the game was reduced to 46 overs a side.  

Marlborough’s bowlers were not able to apply the pressure that they had done for the
majority of the season and Marshfield got off to a quick start, even losing a ball that
went down the drain – as one member commented: “A little bit like our performance. “

However even with Will Langton and George Fox picking up two early wickets, Marshfield still
managed to get to 50-2 off seven overs.

With Marshfield’s intentions clear (bat with freedom) it was difficult for any of the bowlers to gain
any rhythm and sustain pressure with the batsmen playing aggressively and hitting the ball sweetly, however both Ben Head and Tom Jacques (2 wickets) were able to gain some sort momentum and managed to pick up a few wickets in the process.

Marshfield were at 124-5 at drinks and it looked as though Marlborough were still in the
match if they were able to get a few wickets after play re-started.  

However a disappointing few overs proved that the task ahead was too big even for ‘Vinny’ to
handle.  Marshfield eventually knocked off the runs in 32 overs.  A very disappointing result .  The team must now turn its attention to the local derby.
 
Marlborough Cricket Club 2nd XI (157 all out) lost to Chippenham (159/4) by 6 wickets.  

With their place in the league assured, Marlborough 2nd XI (having won the toss) elected to bat first but struggled to build a position of strength in the game as they stumbled to 157 all out.

Raghu Tupurani top-scored with 37 with good support from Rob Atkinson who struck 27. Chippenham ripped through the Marlborough lower order as they lost their last five wickets for 24 runs.

In reply Chippenham lost only four wickets as one of their opening batsmen made an unbeaten 68 to give the visitors victory within 27 overs. Rich West was the pick of the bowlers for Marlborough, returning figures of 2 for 36 from his 9 overs.