Wiltshire CCC draw penultimate NCCA Championship fixture against Dorset
Dorset won the toss and elected to bat. Wiltshire took two early wickets with debutant Will Hope running out Jacob Gordon with a direct hit when the game was just 3 balls old! Next to go was David Scott bowled by Chris Aubrey. This brought captain Luke Webb 35 and the in-form Sam Young 177 together. They put on 104 before Webb was bowled by Joe King. Next in was keeper Alex Eckland 96 who added 204 with Sam Young until he was caught by his counterpart Tom Cullen off the bowling of Chris Aubrey. Next to go was Sam Young caught behind by Tom Cullen with Ed Young the bowler and the score on 352 for 5. Josh Croom bowled William Tripcony 25 and Ed Young bowled both Josh Royan 15 and Toby Pattemore 0 as Dorset closed on an impressive 391 for 9 declared.
Wiltshire reached 52 for 1 at close of play with Jack Mynott feeling unwell bowled by Toby Pattemore. Dylan Church and Jack Stearman saw them through to the end of the day
Day 2 began with a saturated ground having suffered overnight rain which continued into the afternoon until the umpires eventually abandoned play for the day.
Day 3 thankfully allowed play to continue uninterrupted. With Dylan Church 36 and Jack Stearman 49 building on their good start. Unfortunately this was followed by a number of wickets falling and the threat of the follow-on looking a distinct possibility. Jake Goodwin 38, Harry Broderick 56 not out and Josh Croom 25 not out had other ideas showing a maturity beyond their years. An unbroken 8th wicket partnership of 72 between Broderick and Croom saw the follow-on threat disappear. At this point with the score on 258 for 7 Wiltshire declared their 1st innings with a deficit of 133.
Wiltshire then encouraged Dorset to go for quick runs with wicket-keeper Tom Cullen and occasional bowler Jack Stearman bowling just 7 overs during which the each took a wicket and the Dorset batsmen helped themselves to 118 runs with Jacob Gordon 66 (24 balls 5 fours and 6 sixes) leading the way and setting Wiltshire a formidable target of 252 runs for victory.
The opening partnership saw Wiltshire to 87 before Jack Mynott was caught by Ed Bartlett with Ben Chaffey the bowler. Ed Bartlett then took 3 for 36 to cause Wiltshire to re-evaluate the situation. No cause for concern however as Wiltshire’s Wadworth Man of the Match Dylan Church , 102 not out, scored a magnificent century with a 6 off the final ball before the two teams shook hands on a draw. He was ably assisted in the unbroken 5th wicket partnership of 101 with a fine aggressive 60 not out by Jake Goodwin. This took Wiltshire to 223 for 4 just 28 runs short of victory with Dorset 6 wickets short of victory.
Players, officials and spectators were left wondering what might have been if the weather had allowed three full days play instead of just two with a contrived finish. Wiltshire can take comfort from the performances of Dylan Church, Jake Goodwin, Harry Broderick and Jake Croom in the productive unbroken partnerships of each innings. Plenty of positives to take into next week’s final Championship match with Shropshire.
