The scheduled game against Bengeo had to be called off after
Bengeo could not raise a team. Due to the brilliant work of Ranjan,
we were able to secure a fixture against a new team, Codicote CC,
which turned out to be a rare local game for the Westwoods.
Some pre-match drizzle eased by the start of play and having lost
the toss, the Goodwill were invited to bat first on a strip that
yielded 600 runs the day before in a league gane. After a positive
start, followed by a slight quiet period, where 3 wickets went
down very quickly, the Wanderers totalled up 189 just shy of
batting out the 40 overs. Andy Callanan (35), Chris Cashman (28),
Colin Correa (41) and some lusty late-order blows from Sachin
Doshi (23) were the main contributors to what seemed like a decent
score for us.
In reply, Codicote set their stall out early, they weren't going
to nudge and nurdle their way towards a win. Some clean hitting
brought many a boundary, although the Goodwill were unlucky with
miscues going ariel and just out of reach, with a couple of
dropped catches, and with Priyesh Patel bowling well and 3 caught
and bowled chances, smashed back, just not sticking. It was one of
those days for Pri, who, when he was brought back, shelled another
difficult caught and bowled chance. Oh, and just to rub it in,
when we batted Pri was out……..caught and bowled!
After racing to 151 in 22 overs, skipper Ollie Sayers provided the
breathrough and the Goodwill fought hard in the field. Codicote
knocked off the runs with 6 wickets and 5 overs to spare.
Codicote proved to be a strong batting unit and on the day were
too strong for the Goodwill, but who knows what may have happened
had one or two fo the chances been snapped up early. Then again,
the middle-order may have blown us away. An enjoyable afternoon in
Hertfordshire did have it's positives with several people showing
glimpses of good early season form with the bat, with Darren
Westwood bowling superbly well without reward and a first "proper"
wicket for young Andrew Callanan!
Two games played this season, one win and one loss but positives
to take from both games for plenty of people. Onwards and upwards
and onto two local games, against Ruislip and Elstree
