Match reports

Batting first Adrian opened with Richard and continued the fine form of the previous week as an opening stand of 84 put Ives in early control thanks also to some wayward bowling from the opposition. After Richard departed for 21, Ciaran carried on with Adrian until the latter was unfortunately run out for 40. A couple of wickets then fell cheaply but with Ciaran scoring 23 and Matthew 20no and Andy H 13no, at the end Ives innings closed on 188 for 9.

After an excellent chicken curry for tea Church Boys quickly found themselves 2 down with Andy C making the breakthrough and Asif taking the catches on both occasions. From there however runs flowed and although Ciaran nipped in with a wicket it took the introduction of the Ivanhoe ‘spin twins’ Andy H and Adrian to turn the tide. With overs in hand the odds were still on Church Boys coming out on top but with Andy H taking 2 for 33 and Adrian taking wickets regularly at the other end they were reduced to 169 for 9 with 5 over remaining. Then at 177 for 9 needing only 2 to win Adrian finally  bowled there no. 4 for a fine 64 for the closest of wins by 1 run and fine figures of 5 for 30 in 7.1 overs for Adrian.

Man of the Match:  Adrian

Another scorching day and Captain Ciaran luckily won the toss and opted to bat. Rich P and Adrian D opened and rapidly put on the runs on a flat wicket with a short, fast outfield.  There were some good performances with the bat with Rich P reaching 42 and Max F just shy of his half century, falling on 48. However the batting performance of the match has to go to Adrian D who edged closer to his first ever century just to be denied at the close by Old Father Time, finishing on 99 not out. Ives closed their innings on 227 for 4.

Ives turn to field and it was spin that seemed to be the order of the day as Andy H and Adrian D took six wickets between them (including two stumpings from rusty keeper Philip K).  The regular fall of wickets,combined with some excellent bowling contributions from Prasad (21 off 5), Andy C (19 off 5) and Max F (11 off 3 for 1) helped keep Mayfield’s run rate down and at one point Ivanhoe looked to be in with a good chance of a win. However a couple of dropped catches denied Ivanhoe their second consecutive victory of the season and the game finished in a draw with Mayfield on 181 for 8.

Man of the match – Adrian D

A game of firsts and miracles. – Max turned up, Richard hit a 5, Ives win,
and Bob ran a 3.
Ives started with only 8, with Ciaran and Richard opening the bowling. A
solid start saw Elite CC 2 down within the first 6 overs. Solid bowling
continued with Andy H and AD both came on, who bowled well, but without
any real luck. A lack of wickets meant that Ives were under a lot of
pressure for the last 15 overs. Still bowling well, Ives kept the score to
185 from the 40 overs. A tough ask given the batting of late.
AD and Andy Watson opened the batting, and endured a 14 ball opening over.
Needing 4.5 an over, the openers settled into wearing down the bowlers.
The stage was then set for Max and Richard, who then set about the Elite
bowling. However the departure of Max, Ives needed 100 from the final 15
overs. This saw Ciaran and Richard really open up, running quickly between
the wickets to frustrate Elite CC. With Richard falling for 48, the game
was in the balance, however Ives saw it home with Bob 18 NO and Ciaran 39
NO.
Finally a win.

Bamville 212 – 8

Ives 191 – 8

Bowling

Richard 2 for 29,  Andy C 3 for 34, Prasad 2 for 50, Ciaran 1 for 49, Saqib 1 for 31, Andy H 1 for 16.

Phi K 3 catches, Richard 2, Saqib 1 Andy C 1

Batting

Bob 57, Richard 45, Prasad 18, Ciaran 11

Time match

Ivanhoe 133 all out in 41 overs.  Chesham  93 for 8 in 38 overs,

Match Drawn

Adrian 36

Richard 5 for 16 in 11 overs

2 catches for Bob keeping, and Ciaran, Phil K  and Richard with one each.

Good to see Andy C back bowling with his first spell of the season

A number of half chance catches missed which might have won us the game

Pizza and ‘Kentucky’ fried chicken for tea!

First, it was great to have Andy C back after his sabbatical and hopefully this was the first of many more games to come for him.

As to the match after losing the toss on a blustery day at Mayfield and being put in the field, this was arguably decided by a first wicket partnership of 53 on what was an unpredictable wicket, not helped by a couple of difficult chances going down in the field.

After Richard broke the opening stand with a spell of 2 for 1 in 5 overs, Adrian bowling unchanged for the remainder of the innings from the top end took 5 for 34 in 14 overs, aided by good catches for Richard,  Andy H and Prasad and with Prasad (1 for 19) and Saqib (2 for 13) at the other end picking up  3 wickets between them the remaining 9 wickets fell for only 79 runs to leave Mayfield on 129 all out from overs.

After an excellent tea, Ives never really got to grips with the wicket with only Adrian (20) and Richard (13) making double figures as we were bowled out for 77 in only 27 overs which although we could have done better was possibly a par score for the conditions on the day.

First match of Ives centenary season on an unusually hot day for the time of year saw Ives take to the field resplendent in their new Centenary cricket shirts.

An excellent bowling and fielding performance from everyone followed restricting Arkley to 177 in 46 overs thanks mainly to a  run  wicket stand, Adrian (3 for 39) Andy H (1 for 28), Richard (1 for 35) and Saqib (1for 26) were allin the wickets and although a couple of catches went down which might have restricted the Arkley total further, catches were picked up by Ciaran, Adrian and Bob behind the stumps.

In reply Ives quickly found themselves 6 for 2 with Ciaran and Richard back in the pavilion. Bob (32) and Adrian (14) put the innings back on track with Phil P pitching in with 19 before both he and Bob departed in the 2 balls either side of tea to halt the Ives momentum.  Phil K with a fine 44 and Saqib (22) put the innings back on track with a 67 run stand before, following their departure, a flurry of wickets fell to leave Ives 162 all out with 3 overs to play.

Despite the loss all in all an encouraging start to the season with hopefully more to come.

A bright late season afternoon, the toss lost again, Ives asked to bowl. Leyhill make a good start and there’s 60 on the board before the 1^st wicket falls to Richard (5 overs 1 for 30) caught behind by Bob. Then a 78 run  2^nd wicket stand before Adrian (4 for 39 in 8 overs) brings Ives back in to the game and Matthew, who also contributed a  run out, ties down the other end (7 overs 1 for 21 ) and the Leyhill score at tea instead of being 200+ is restricted to 192 for 7.

After an excellent tea Richard quickly departs run out but the run rate is maintained as Phil K (14) and Phil P (11) join Ciaran, before from 67 for 3, Bob (33) and Ciaran put on  a 50 run stand.  However despite Ciaran (51) with his second  50 in two weeks, Adrian (16), Saqib (9) and Andy H (10) keeping the score ticking the rate finally proves beyond Ives as the last wicket falls with one ball remaining and Ives 7 runs short of the target

• A new fixture this week, same toss result LOST .
• Eaton Bray ask Ives to bat . A new opening  pair this week Ciaran and AD . The start is measured and at 20 overs with no wicket down, 70 is posted . Drinks are taken and the pace of the innings increases  with both batsmen looking for the runs  after a solid start . 
• AD posts 54  and falls LBW with the score on 136 the highest 1st stand of the season to date . Ciaran carries on, and with the arrival of Raj to the wicket posts his maiden 50 . They both carry on and set a target of 220 , with Ciaran 86 not out and Raj 38 not out . With 150 scored in the last 20 overs . 
• After Tea we are limited with the bowling this week . Matt and Earle both open the bowling and golden arm Matt soon bags a wicket caught by AD. Mattt ends up with 1-46 from 7 over two spells. Earle  picks up a wicket  bowled and finishes with 1-38 from 7. AD takes over from Matt and takes a wicket to leave Eaton Bray 3 down at drinks break . 
• At drinks Eaton Bray are odds on  to carry on for a win . Bowling changes are made, Ciaran is brought on.  Ciaran strikes to remove there skipper an important wicket. AD changes ends and picks up 2  wickets, 1 a stumping from Bob, first of the season. AD ends up with figures of 4-32 from 9 . Ciaran carries on with some fine bowing and takes wickets to end up with 4-15 from 7.5 overs and takes the last wicket to WIN the game with Eaton Bray bowled out for140  .
• Nice ground , Good result 
• Man of match Ciaran ,

Having been asked to bowl first Ives took an early wicket courtesy of Richard (1 for 22 in 6 overs) but were then put to the sword with a 2^nd wicket stand of 183 as Cublington sailed past 200 with only Ciaran having any success with 2 for 48 in 8 overs, and despite Matthew (0 for 33in 8 overs) and Adrian  (0 for 39 in 8 overs) bowling well and some excellent fielding particularly in the first 20 overs.

In reply Ives got off to an excellent start with Ciaran (9) and Richard (41) putting on 25 and the Richard and Raj (36) adding 68 in quick time to take the score to 93 for 1 in only 14 overs. However 4 quick wickets changed the match in Cublington’s favour and despite 72 from Bob, 17 from Adrian and 16no from Matthew at the end, the overs ran out with Ives on 231 for 8.