Bennett Batters Radlett

Rickmansworth 1XI hosted Radlett 3XI on a sunny but chilly day for the 2nd league match of 2016. Rickmansworth won the toss and opted to bat on a hard early season wicket, although the large boundary around the ground meant that scoring was relatively slow during the first half of the innings. Opener Rory Bennett managed to find a few gaps to get the hosts off to a solid start along with the support of Murtaza Shehabi (19).

Once Radlett got the breakthrough there was a somewhat shaky period for the batting side who lost four wickets quite cheaply and found themselves 109/5 after 34 overs, the game was evenly poised. At this point captain, Marty Jaynes, joined Bennett in the middle and the two quickly began to put the pressure back on Radlett with some aggressive running between the wickets, turning 1s into 2s and 2s into 3s.

Jaynes continued to find the middle of the bat on his way to a quick-fire 65*. However, the main story of the innings came at the other end, with Bennett, on his Park Road debut, batting the whole 50 overs to reach a brilliant 117*, which everyone could only stand and admire. The 6th wicket partnership of an unbeaten 142 (a post-war club record for the 6th wicket) off just 16 overs got the home side to 251-5 at the end of the innings – a score which would take a big effort to overcome.

Radlett’s reply started well, with both openers looking comfortable in the middle to begin with. But disciplined and accurate bowling from Rickmansworth kept the score down well and when the wickets began to fall it looked like it could be their day. Committed fielding from all 11 players saw Ricky manage to build some pressure and keep the required run rate climbing. Radlett’s middle order offered some slight resistance, but once they had fallen it became clear that their team was running out of overs to get close enough to the total needed for the win.

Ricky bowlers Marc Robinson (2-20), Phil Riddleston (3-29) and Matt Funge (3-30) helped get Radlett to 9 down, however solid defence from the final partnership ensured that their side would not end the game all out. Radlett reached 161-9 in their reply, meaning that Rickmansworth came away with the victory by 90 runs and move onto next week with 2 wins from 2 so far.

(Submitted by Matt Funge)

Editor’s note: Matt Funge’s 3 wickets, were his first for the club.