Westbury entertained Lechlade who were relegated from the West of England Premier One league last season. They were hoping to put behind them the loss of many pre-season practice matches due to the amount of rain that had fallen over the last month.
Westbury gave club league debuts to Romano Esau and Sam Burdock, who joined the club over the winter. Lechlade won the toss and decided to field first on the hottest day of the year. Westbury opened with a new opening partnership of Esau and Coles and they made a blistering start against some loose bowling by the opening Lechlade attack of Ellis and Martin.
They completed their first fifty off 28 balls in 17 mins and they scored at the same rate – so much so that the 100 game up off 67 balls in 39 minutes. When the total reached 142, Lechlade struck by dismissing Esau, caught by Mortimer for a very good 64.
Coles was then joined by the other debutant, Burdock, and they took the total to 168 when Coles was caught behind by Palmer for 77. Shortly after Coles’ dismissal, Lechlade struck again when Burdock was dismissed for 10, also caught behind by Palmer. Mills then joined Dickinson at the wicket and they found scoring difficult off the Lechlade spinners who were delivering a considerable amount of turn, especially Novais, who was turning the ball quite considerably.
Both Dickinson and Mills took their time and they took the total to 202, when Mills was dismissed caught for a quick-fire 26. It was at this time that the Lechlade spinners fought back and took 5 wickets for 54 runs and at the end of their allotted overs, Westbury had accumulated 256 for 9 wickets. At the end of the innings Coles (77) and Esau (64) had the best scores. David Novais ( 4-38) had the best figures, ably supported by George Leakey (3-36).
When Lechlade batted they made a disastrous start when Chakrabody (0) bowled and Palmer (8) caught behind were dismissed by the Westbury captain Senneck, with the total at 8. Dial was then joined by the Lechlade captain Ellis and they took the total to 98, when Dial was dismissed, bowled by Gill for a good 60. Shortly after Gill struck again when he dismissed Martin without scoring, caught behind.
Then Richard Mills came into the attack and he took wickets at regular intervals and eventually Lechlade were bowled out for 180. Richard Mills (5-30 off 10 overs) had the best figures, ably supported by Senneck (2-27 off 7 overs).
This was a very good performance by a strong Westbury team, which bodes well for the season ahead. Westbury man of the match: Richard Mills.
