Arun Wanderers 177 for lost to Selsey 178 for 0.

Arun suffered a disheartening defeat at Selsey, where the hosts showed their league quality.  Laurie won the toss yet again and opted to bat.  Graham and Sam opened the innings up on a dull, lifeless wicket, where the accurate bowling made early runs hard to come by.

They were both dismissed in the 20s with 3 wickets falling in fairly quick succession, but Mark Rose (41) and Chris Staight (22) consolidated the innings to edge Arun towards a competitive total.  With a few overs remaining, a stroke of good fortune/captaincy meant that our 20-20 specialists Ian Clarke and Patrick “I’m useless” Atherton had free reign to plunder the ball to all parts, which they did.

Patrick cracked 19 not out in very quick time - although he will tell you it was one of the worst innings of all time - and Ian added a very useful 14 from the other end, to help Arun to a total of 177 for 6.

Scorecard

S.Mellor           26
G.Rees            21
S. Burston       4
M. Rose           41
C. Staight        22
Pat. Atherton   19 not out
I. Clarke           14
Phil. Atherton   1 not out

177 for 6

Selsey made short work of the total, with the openers smashing the ball to all parts from the word go, one of whom had scored 122 the previous day in a league match.  The only consolation is that the pain was short and sharp, with them smashing their way to the target in under 14 overs.  Sadly, our bowling did not match the tight discipline of Selsey’s, with a succession of wide, short or over-pitched deliveries getting the expected treatment.

Bowling Figures

Pat. Atherton   5-0-43-0
R. Newey        2-0-24-0
M. Rose          3-0-38-0
L. Mellor          3-0-41-0
I. Clarke          3-0-22-0