Bosham vs Ryde II

It makes a change to have something new to report. Unfortunately, the news is that we lost and that is something that has not happened for almost a year. Our last defeat was against Netley on 9th June 2007.

This time the team doing the damage was Ryde II and in particular Cameron Mitchell who made an unbeaten 118 to secure a seven wicket victory over Bosham. It means we slip from first to third in the table.

Ryde set up their victory with a fine bowling and fielding performance that restricted us to just 178. The afternoon had started with a wild over from Dan Gordon who conceded 11 runs in wides and byes. He was replaced after two overs by Angus Birkin. In tandem with Ryde captain, Daniel Furmidge, they bowled a very accurate spell from which the Bosham batsmen struggled to score.

Duncan was bowled by Furmidge trying to force a good length ball and Laurence was run out by a direct hit that typified an excellent performance in the field by Isle of Wight side.

With just 12 overs of the 42 over allocation remaining, Bosham had only amassed 88 runs. Mark and David then began to enjoy some success as they went on the offensive and their urgency was having some impact which meant 200 was looking achievable.

Ryde made a significant breakthrough having David caught by Birkin and then immediately followed this up by dismissing Mark. This took all of the momentum out of the Bosham innings and Hendo grafted with the middle order to advance the score to 178 at the close.

Defending a relatively low score on the Oaklands Park wicket was always going to be difficult and likely to require some early breakthroughs. The Bosham openers George and Martin did create some chances early on but the Ryde openers rode their luck as a couple of inside edges went tantalising close to the leg stump. However, all of the bowlers struggled to exert any pressure by bowling too many loose deliveries.

Cameron Mithcell made the most of this luck and as he grew in confidence he started to punish the bowling attack with a fine display of shot making. He offered only one half-chance to Laurence who made a superb attempt diving full stretch at point but he was unable to hang on. Bosham tried in vain to stem the flow of runs and Mithcell guided his team home with three overs to spare.