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vs. Lindford - September 20 Headley won their final league game of the season against Lindford to win promotion to the first division of the I’anson cup, in a game of swinging fortunes played out in glorious September sunshine. Headley made a fast start with the bat, only to become bogged down in the middle before a late innings rally gave them a workable total. A poor pitch which got worse as the game wore on made chasing a total virtually impossible and Headley were inspired by a 7 wicket performance (all of them bowled) by Clive Bate to take maximum points and regain the division 1 status that they lost in 2006. Heavy local traffic meant the Lindford took to the field, having lost the toss, with only 7 players and Headley made a quick start with Ciaran Rooney and George Williams taking 26 off the first 5 overs. Their dismissal within 2 overs and the arrival of Paul Coppertone (one of those delayed) completely changed the game as run scoring became almost impossible. The next 19 overs produced only 16 runs and another 3 wickets to put Lindford in charge. Gradually, Ashley Cook and Andy Clarke put some runs on the board, before Copplestone was removed from the attack having bowled 13 overs for just 7 runs. Clarke and Cook added a crucial 46 runs and Cook stayed to the end of the 48 overs to score a vital 58 as the lower order contributed crucial partnerships and Headley ended on a substantial 147. However, if Lindford chased the score down, they would be in with a shout of promotion, but they needed a solid start. However, Bate struck to dismiss Clement in the 5th over with a ball that kept low - a situation that would repeat frequently in the next couple of hours. When the first 10 overs brought only 12 runs, Lindford knew they had to make an effort to score the runs, but with the pitch detoriating, they had little chance. Mike Hughes struck to dismiss key batsmen Karsten Waller and Stewart Henderson in the same over and then it was left to Bate to wrap up the remaining wickets, as a consistent full length became just about unplayable. Copplestone enjoyed himself with some lusty blows, but Lindford had no answer to Bate as he finished with 7 for 30 off 17.4 overs. |