Dick Culling clocks up 116 for the 3rds in their win against St Andrews
Match summaries for Saturday 4 July 2015
The 1sts travelled out east to Beccles where they continued their winning run. The hosts batted first, were bowled out, but posted a pretty high scoring 234 which Garboldisham chased down (236) for the loss of just 4 wickets. The 1sts now sit third in the league with only 14 points separating them and league leaders North Runcton although Runcton do have a game in hand. Garby are away to North Runcton in a fortnight’s time so that will be a key game to watch out for.
Meanwhile, the 2nds were at home to Norwich B. On this glorious summer’s day the visitors batted first but were restricted to just 157 runs for the loss of all their wickets. Jimmy Gooderham took 4-42, Fevs 3-41 and Rowan Freake 3-15. Now whether it was the fact that the 2nds had a lowish total to reach or just the afternoon heat, they started to make a bit of a mess of their chase with the top order giving away their wickets, and at one stage the scoreboard was showing a worrying 37 for 5… However, sensible batting from Andrew Whistler (36) and boundaries from Fevs, helped keep the Garby innings alive, but it was the father and son partnership of Andy and Rowan Freake that got the 2nds over the line. Rowan played with great maturity, defending the difficult balls but picking off the easy ones and dispatching them to the boundary with ease, and it was reminiscent of his match-winning, rear-guard action in the final of the Junior Carter Cup in 2011 when the u17s defeated Diss. Rowan finished on 34 and captain Andy Freake finished on 45 with three 4s in succession to wrap the game up at 161 for 7. This was only the 2nds second win of the season and it gave them valuable points to lift them off the bottom of the table.
The 3rds were also at home, and batting first, scored a hefty 288 with Dick Culling picking up a ton to finish on 116. The visitors, St Andrews, started well and were up with the run rate but the Garby bowling started to take its toll and St Andrews found themselves bowled out for 191 in 31 overs.
Chris Jones enjoys his cake with centurion Dick Culling and wife Sandy in the background
The 4ths had a day off as their opposing team Brisley pulled out of the league at the start of the season.
So all in all, a perfect Saturday for the club – great weather and great cricket!