Amersham bounced back from last Saturday's disappointing loss to Chesham with a closely fought win against top of the table Harefield. With Amersham opting to bat first, openers Robert and Andrew Viney laid a solid foundation for the middle order despite the game being held up by heavy rain. The scoring rate was then accelerated by the belligerent strokeplay of Dan Colquhoun and Luke Jackson. However, Harefield skipper Akshay Reddy restricted the middle order with his intelligent off-spin and it was left to Chris Owen to shepherd the tail to a competitive target. Harefield began their response steadily but were pegged back by a controlled opening spell from seamer Chris Sowden who picked up two crucial wickets. Legspinner David Atkinson kept up the pressure and picked up wickets regularly as several batsmen fell aiming for the inviting midwicket boundary. A late partnership between Reddy and Lines took Harefield to the brink of victory, before Rajabali dismissed Lines and Duncan Ward swooped from cover to execute a stunning run out to swing the match. Harefield bravely maintained their pursuit of victory but the Amersham spinners swept past the number 10 and 11 batsmen to record victory. Reddy was unfortunate to be left stranded on a calm 51 following his vital interventions with both bat and ball for Harefield. |