Haverhill see off Woolpit in top two clash
HUNTS COUNTY BATS SUFFOLK LEAGUE
DIVISION ONE
Haverhill 156-6 beat Woolpit 152-9 by four wickets
Haverhill beat Woolpit in their top-of-the-table clash to put more distance between themselves and the chasing pack.
After typical English summer weather both captains agreed on a 28 overs per side match, the covers came off and the players could take the field.
Haverhill won the toss and elected to bowl first, which seemed like a great decision as it wasn’t long before Haverhill were celebrating the first wicket of the day.
Tom Baker (1-29) got the early breakthrough in his second over, knocking out Bevan’s (4) middle stump.
However the other remaining Woolpit opening batsman, Jackson (44) was able to see off Haverhill’s opening attack scoring six fours and two sixes in his entertaining innings.
Alongside Hamish Fiddes (22), the pair racked up a 50 run partnership within seven overs and looked set to cause further scratching-of-heads for the Haverhill players, in particular captain Daniel Pass.
However, the second wicket partnership was broken when Callum Brunning (3-25) had Fiddes caught on the boundary in his first over.
Wickets quickly tumbled at both ends as spinner Brunning and young seamer Will Bailey (3-38) ripped through Woolpit’s middle order.
However, Woolpit made a late surge at the back end of the innings, much inspired by the visiting skipper Alistair Stewart’s illustrious knock of 55 not out which helped the visiting team reach a total of 152-8 in their allocated overs.
Haverhill began their chase and opening batsmen Sam Powell (55) and Craig Williams (27) gave the home side a strong foundation for which to build on, making a 73 run partnership in the first 10 overs.
Powell was able to regain the destructive form he showed earlier in the season, accumulating twelve boundaries in his brief yet instrumental aggressive innings.
After Powell was caught and bowled by Fiddes (5-31), wickets fell in quick succession as the Woolpit spinner took a liking to Haverhill’s turning surface which got the better of the home side’s top order.
However while the wickets were falling, Haverhill continued to cause damage to the Woolpit bowling attack, edging closer to victory.
It was left to the experienced head of Nigel Brunning (7no) and the exciting talent of Will Bailey (21no) to see the home side over the finishing line in the 25th over, which widens the gap of Haverhill’s lead at the top of the Division One table over the following pack of Woolpit, Bury St Edmunds and Mildenhall.
Haverhill can take many positives from this Sunday’s game, as well as the convincing victory over their league rivals.
In particular, 17-year-old Will Bailey’s notable performance with bat and with ball, which justified the decision to call him up to the Saturday first XI match at Easton in the wake of a few unavailabilities.
Sunday First Team captain Dan Pass said “it is great for youngsters like Will to show their ability in pressure situations like he did this Sunday, and use that experience to help develop their game”.
Haverhill Sunday first XI face Mildenhall at Manor Road next week, which captain Dan Pass can go into feeling confident after his team’s fantastic run of form in recent weeks.
The skipper said: “Team spirit and morale is high at the moment after a run of winning games and we’re in good form going into the game against Mildenhal”.
