Wiltshire share the points after double header with Hereford

Westbury and District CC

Sunday, July 5 at 11 am and 2 pm

Game 1

After a week off, Wiltshire returned to T20 action with another double header, this time with Herefordshire.

Westbury and District CC was once again the venue and the heatwave weather continued.

Herefordshire won the toss and chose to bat.

Hasan Mahmood 32 and Ollie Cox 20 set off at a cracking pace and had put 50 on the board after just 4.4 overs.

Ollie perished just before the 50 came up but was replaced by his brother Toby.

Both openers were removed by Stan Brown, 2 for 20, with catches from Will Naish and wicketkeeper Jake Goodwin.

Toby Cox and Callum Bennett were both victims of Archie Pascoe, 2 for 24, and both caught by Sam Freestone.

Archie Pascoe 2 for 24 in game 1. (Image: Roy Honeybone)

The Cox family were far from finished as brother Joel, 56 (from just 37 balls), held the innings together and managed to manipulate the strike as the total rose to 150 for 8 in their allocated 20 overs.

The other batters fell to spinners Charan Chahal, 2 for 20, and Archie Fairfax-Ross, 2 for 15.

There were further catches for Jake Goodwin, Cyrus Shafi and Archie Pascoe.

A hundred-and-fifty seemed like a challenging target, but well within possibility for Wiltshire in their current form.

Sadly, form deserted several of the Wiltshire players and the team were dismissed for just 109 with 17 balls to spare.

Only three players made it into double figures.

Tom Cheater hit 15 in quick time until he became one of Roshan Venkataraman’s three victims, 3 for 14.

It was only a partnership between Cyrus Shafi 27 and Alfie Johnson 28 that gave the Wiltshire total some respectability.

Cyrus Chafi 27 in game 1. (Image: Roy Honeybone)

Time for lunch and time to review just what went wrong and then try to put it right.

Game 2

Herefordshire once again won the toss and once again chose to bat first.

They still raced to 50, but this time wickets were falling.

Hasan Mahmood was caught by Archie Pascoe from the bowling of Stan Brown in the very first over.

Rudge 18 was bowled by Sam Freestone.

Ollie Cox 23 was the next to go, caught by Sam Freestone as he became one of Archie Pascoe’s three victims, 3 for 27.

Thereafter it was Toby Cox 47 who held the innings together.

Brother Joel was smartly stumped by Jake Goodwin from the bowling of Alfie Johnson.

There were 2 wickets for Charan Chahal, 2 for 30.

He bowled skipper Tulacz for just 2 and then had wicketkeeper Powell well caught by Tom Cheater.

Tom Cheater 29 in game 2. (Image: Roy Honeybone)

Eventually, leaving Roshan Venkataraman, 28 not out, to guide the team to 142 from 8 from their 20 overs.

The question was whether or not form would return to the unquestionably capable Wiltshire players.

Some of them never had a chance to show their true form because the runs needed were scored by just four Wiltshire batters with 11 balls to spare.

The score was already up to 62 before Tom Cheater, 29, was caught by Roshan Venkataraman from the bowling of Hasan Mahmood.

Mahmood had a hand in the only other wicket to fall when he caught Wadworth Man of the Day Will Naish 58 (the highest individual score of the day), from the bowling of James Rudge.

Jake Goodwin, 36 not out, was joined by skipper Ed Young 6 for the final surge and Jake finished the game in style as he took the score to within one of the Herefordshire total with a magnificent 6 and then struck a 4 when just 2 were needed to claim victory.

Pride restored and now to look to the future.

Twelfth man, Diliwar Mangal, expressed the camaraderie of the group which all contributes to the way the side has gelled under the captaincy of Ed Young and bodes well for the future.

The three-day Championship games begin on Sunday, July 26 against today’s opponents at Eastnor CC followed by Oxfordshire at Corsham beginning on August 2.

Before the round of Championship games can be completed, Wiltshire return to T20 action in the T20 Super 12s day on Sunday, August 9 with the venue yet to be decided.