Waverley too strong for Godalming

Tons for Mongo and KV set up victory...

With Pirbright forced to cancel Sunday's scheduled fixture late in the week, it looked like Waverley were going to be faced with a Sunday afternoon off. However, a hastily arranged fixture against Godalming (the first match between the two teams since 2001) ensured those selected would get their cricket fix for the week. Lining up for Waverley were James Wright ("Mongo"), Nick Farr ("Griff"), Chris Beanland ("Beanie"), Simon Brewer ("KV"), Adrian Day ("Mog"), Matt Du Gay ("Doogs"), Jamie Harris ("DJ Teabag"), Malorie Short ("Mal"), Will Knox ("Ewok"), Peter Brewer ("Mr B") and Adam Carmichael ("AC").

Having surprisingly won the toss on a pitch with short boundaries, Doogs wasted no time in electing to bat first in this 40 over game. Mongo and Griff made good headway in the early overs, Waverley's score travelling along at more than six and over for the first ten. A bowling change from the home side yielded the first wicket - looking comfortable on 34, Griff saw his stumps knocked over by the bowling of Craven. The luckless Beanie then feathered an edge through to the wicket keeper without scoring; however Waverley were still in a good position at 93-2. Given the dimensions of the pitch, arguably the two men you would want at the crease are Mongo and KV - both tucked into the bowling with gusto as first Mongo and then KV brought up their half-centuries. The visitors continued to accelerate, although not without incident - Mongo used up several lives during his innings, even managing to avoid being run out despite being stood at the same end as KV for a moment. With 30 overs bowled, Waverley's score of 210 was starting to look imposing. The race was on between Mongo and KV to see who'd reach their ton first and the winner was Mongo ("the arsiest ton I've ever seen", noted Mog). He was followed not long after by KV, the first time in quite a while that two Waverley batsmen have made centuries in the same game. With the score 270-2 after 36 overs, Doogs decided that was enough and Waverley duly declared four overs short of their allotted 40. Mongo carried his bat with 111* not out, whilst KV finised 108* not out - a partnership of 177 for the third wicket.

Tea was excellent (featuring pate and doughnuts) and not even Ewok somebody doing something unspeakable to the changing room toilet dampened Waverley's spirits. Grumpy quicks Teabag and Ewok were given a new ball to get stuck into the Godalming batting line-up, but the visitors seemed unusually flat in the field for the first ten overs. Jackman in particular capitalised on this, the opener smearing the ball to all parts of the field but also keeping Waverley on their toes with a succession of quick singles. The run rate in the first ten overs was astronomical, Godalming piling on 98. Mal and Mr B were introduced into the attack to try and stem the tide of runs and as ever, it was the dependable Mr B who got the vital breakthrough - Jackman (66) going through his shot far too early and popping the ball back to the bowler. This was just the shot in the arm Waverley needed and they had the second wicket in the next over, Mal trapping Mackenzie LBW. When Mr B saw Craven caught by Mongo, the visitors had wrestled back control of the game and the run rate was slowing down considerably. Mal was bowling well from the other end and accounted for the wickets of Cook (caught and bowled), Allen (an excelled catch from Mongo at short cover) and Cox (castled), reducing the hosts to 153-6.

At the other end, silver changed hands and AC was introduced for Mr B. He soon removed the remaining opener Davies (68) courtesy of a well-held catch from the skipper. This exposed a youthful lower order and although both batsmen displayed good technique, AC and Doogs (operating from the other end) sent them back to the pavilion in consecutive overs. At 181-9 with ten overs left, it seemed that Waverley would wrap the game up in relatively short order. However, stubborn resistance from Honeysett and Warburton frustrated the visitors and salvaged some pride for the hosts - they negotiated the remaining overs with relative ease and Godalming finished their 40 overs on 224-9, a 46 run win for Waverley.

The Man of the Match Hat was awarded to Mongo for his 111* not out, although there were honourable mentions to both KV and Mal for their contributions. The *Anchor Hat went to Mog for his interesting take on the long-barrier whilst fielding (which resulted in a boundary), while Beanie won the Pink T-shirt for flinching out of the path of the ball whilst umpiring. Mal was spotted painting her nails during the Waverley innings, prompting an interesting philosophical discussion about what constitutes a Pink T-shirt offence. Beanie's comment that he would happily paint his nails as a show of solidarity was duly noted...