KELSEY WIN CLOSE ENCOUNTER

By Glen Sands

Outcasts' promotion hopes suffered a setback last week when they lost a close encounter against in form South Kelsey in a rain affected match at Nettleton Mines in Lincs League division one.
Russ Fletcher won the toss and invited Kelsey to bat first under cloudy skies and with the threat of rain never far away. Opening bats Dave Everatt and Chandi Wathakarage batted cautiously but both pounced on any loose deliveries before the latter mishit the ball high into the sky for stand in wicket keeper Darren Clark to pouch a catch to earn Jonathan Wroot a wicket , the Sri Lankan opener having made 21 from a total of 41 then fellow countryman Kumud Wijayatra joined Everatt at the crease. He had made eight runs when he was well caught in gully by Andy Torr off Jason Whiteley making it 58 for 2 and by that stage conditions were becoming ever more tricky for batting , coupled with some excellent containing deliveries from Whiteley and Liam McAnaney who was showing signs of finding some form. Lol Waghorn was third to go , caught and bowled by Whiteley for nine and just two deliveries later Whiteley had his third victim when Elliott Drinkall was well caught at deep mid on by Graham Clark. Opener Evereatt was still digging in and he had reached 48 when he was finally out , caught by McAnaney off Whiteley with the total on 102 and a further eight runs were added when Connor Hawkins was caught by Jonathan Wroot to earn McAnaney his first wicket of the innings. Matt Thompson was next to go , run out following a quite unauthadox but nevertheless impressive fielding by Andy Torr then the danger man Rob Baty was bowled by McAnaney as Outcasts went in search of the full bowling points. Youngster Ben Brown and Harris Charalambous did well to take the score to 134 before Brown was caught by Wroot off McAnaney for eleven and the innings closed on 138 all out when Tom Over was run out via a direct hit from skipper Fletcher , Whiteley finishing with 4 for 38 and McAnaney 3 for 45 for the Priorymen.
Conditions were no easier after the tea break for the batsmenas David Hobson and Andy Lawson opened for the Isle side. Lawson had made just a couple when he got a beauty from Matt Thompson that saw him caught at slip by Connor Hawkins then Mark Coulman joined Hobson to steady the ship. Both appeared well set only for Hobson o find himself trapped LBW by slow bowler Hawkins and it was the arrival of the slower brigade that signalled a change in fortunes for Outcasts as the runs became harder to come by. Andy Torr was next to go , another LBW victim this time to Chandi Wathakarage then two wckets fell with the total on 48 , Graham Clark being well stumped by Rob Baty off Hawkins for two and the big wicket of Coulman who was bowled by Chandi for 18. Within five further minutes the teams were sat in the pavilion due to another rain interuption but when Darren Clark and Russell Fletcher got back out into the middle they batted well to add 39 and put their team in with a shout despite the change to a " timed game " as over 30 minutes had been lost earlier. Opening bowler Elliott Drinkall was brought back into the attack and it proved to be a good decision as he picked up three important wickets for his team the first of which was hat of Fletcher whom he bowled for 16. One further run had been added , taking the score to 88 when Clark was trapped LBW by Drinkall for 17 and all seemed lost but that was not the case as bowling heroes Jason Whiteley and Liam McAnaney set about reaching the Kelsey score. Whiteley in particular was looking good but having taken the total to 105 he was bowled by Drinkall when atempting one extravagant shot too many and when Tom Sharpe was bowled by Lol Waghorn with the score on 110 it appeared to be a case of whether Kelsey could capture the one remaining wicket they required in the overs remaining. Having said that Jonathan Wroot bludgeoned some late runs to bring Outcasts back into contention but with just three overs to go and ten runs required the big man was caught in the deep by Chandi Wathakarage off Waghorn bringing an exciting game to a dramatic conclusion.
So Outcasts once again had problems when faced with slower bowlers and as a result of this loss find themselves slipping from third to sixth. South Kelsey on the other hand are in a very good run of form and they appar well set to mount a challenge for second spot in the table. Outcasts play hosts to Holton Le Clay on Saturday when they will hope to get back on travck whilst Kelsey meet Appleby Frodingham 2nds as they look to continue their promotion push.
In a quirk of fate Outasts 2nds entertained South Kelsey 2nds in Division Three and it was the Isle side that ran out the victors at Hirsts Priory. Scott Buttrick hit an exceptional 88 not out as Outcasts made 178 for 9 in their allotted overs , skipper Ian Fletcher making 31 to assist young Mr Buttrick then unsung hero Graeme Fletcher picked up 6 for 29 as Kelsey 2nds were bowled out for 65 , veteran wicket keeper Andy Colebrook producing a spectacular display of wicket keeping when standing up to the stumps despite Fletcher's rapid bowling !