Newdigate CC 256-7 beat Lingfield 252–5

Osborne steers Newdigate to victory

Rarely a dull moment is to be had with cricket this season down Newdigate way. A gripping finish to this ESCL Cup clash between Newdigate U11 with top of the table Lingfield was always a possibility and it, as suspected, fully lived up to that billing much to the home crowd's delight. A late pitch inspection due to earlier rain provided the green light for Newdigate to welcome Lingfield to the Brocus for Round 2 of the ESCL Knockout Cup competition and in winning the toss Newdigate skipper Finn Osborne elected to send the visitors in to bat. The home side bowling attack responded excellently to the challenge set down by their captain and after 8 overs Lingfield were becalmed somewhat at 211-1. Some wonderfully tight bowling from openers George Warne, Osborne (1-6) himself and the following pair of Frankie Shipton (2-2-0-1) and Oliver Turner (3-2-4-0) ensued, the latter pair reeling off 2 excellent maiden overs each in succession. Lingfield eventually began to work the ball and their middle order of Ross Hearnden (9) and Ben Styles (6) gave impetus to a stuttering batting performance. The later order batsmen were put under constant Newdigate fielding and bowling pressure and it was left to Tom Morrissey (12) of Lingfield to drag the visitor's total up to their 252 total at the break. Mention of George Warne's excellent diving catch at mid wicket and Oliver Ball's single over rewarding him with a valuable wicket maiden alongside the reliable quartet of Bennett (1-5), Quigley, Wheeler and in particular Joe Teague must be made.

Newdigate openers James Bennett and Tom Quigley trod carefully in this tense run chase and befitting any League leader, Lingfield themselves fought back and were not to be bullied. Lingfield's fielding was spirited and though bowling not quite as tightly as their opponents they produced regular wicket taking balls throughout. As a result, by the end of the ninth over Newdigate found themselves behind the curve with only 208 runs on the scoreboard and 4 wickets lost. Enter Finn Osborne and his willing counterpart Joe Teague. After seeing off their first over the pair struck 28 runs in 3 overs to elevate Newdigate to 240-4. Osborne (21 not out) tore into anything short and swung the momentum firmly back towards the home team thus allowing Turner (11) to put Newdigate within touching distance of a win. The penultimate over however saw keeper Fenton Chambers defending bravely but succumbing to a wonderful fast yorker from Lingfield's Sam Ricketts who was asking questions of Newdigate's last pair. Fittingly though it was the reliable George Warne who stepped up immediately with successive punched boundaries and with Chambers saw and kept Newdigate safely past the required total. The crowd were transfixed throughout this extremely well attended fixture and the result was never certain nor clinched until the final ball was bowled and umpires had removed the bails. Whew.