The Firsts continued their disappointing run with an 8 wicket defeat by high flying Potters Bar. Put in on a difficult, slow wicket, only Richard Wharton (23) managed to tame the Bar’s opening attack. Mehta (2-39) and Duke (3-28) tore through Reed’s top order so that at 49-5 an embarrassing score seemed on the cards. However, late call up, Stuart Smith (16 not out) dropped anchor while Ed Wharton played his usual swashbuckling innings for 35 runs. Between them they doubled the score. When Chapman turned the ball square though, he ran through the tail in just 5 overs, taking 5 for 9 to leave Reed 120 all out.
It took Potters Bar just 27 overs to reach their target for the loss of 2 wickets, but this does not reflect the excellence of Ed Wharton’s spell (14-1-46-1). He bowled unchanged, beat the bat time after time with no luck and deserved more wickets: a man of the match performance.
Match report submitted by Peter Wholley.
