Chingford206-6

Woodford Wells206-8

CHINGFORD'S away game at the Wells ended in an amazing draw as the visitors valiantly denied the home side and almost turned certain defeat into victory.

Batting first on a damp wicket, Chingford's progress was steady, despite the early loss of opener James Hill for 15.

Mark Williams (55) and Richard Alston (42) batted excellently but it took a superbly aggressive knock from Grant Mather (57 n/o), backed up late on by Jon Dyers (19 n/o), to take the visitors to 206-6 and maximum batting points. Matthew Orchard-Lisle was Wells' most successful bowler, taking 5 for 88.

In reply Wells blasted 42 from the first six overs as Will Rogers put the Chingford attack to the sword, but he finally perished at the hands of Jon Dyers.

Rogers' good work at the crease was carried on by Javed Khan and Graham May who both posted 50s as the weakened Chingford attack tried to stick manfully to their task.

Reaching 117-1 with 20 overs left, victory seemed a formality for the visitors. Yet then a brilliant caught and bowled by James Runciman to dismiss Khan lifted the spirits of the home side.

Bowling in tandem, Runciman and Dyers started to make life more difficult as four more wickets fell, but Wells still only needed four runs from the last over, to be bowled by James Runciman, to claim victory.

Danger man Gareth Jenkins fell to the first ball, brilliantly caught by Mark Williams in the covers, though Jolly and Goodlet managed to scrape two runs and a leg bye to bring the scores level with one ball remaining. The last ball however was hit straight back to Runciman, meaning there was no run available for the Wells pairing and the game ended in a draw.

July 11, 2002 12:30