4th XI Vs Wanstead & Snaresbrook 6th

The 4th XI looked to bounce back from opening day disappointment with a positive result away to Wanstead. 

The side arrived amongst gloomy weather and inspected the uncovered pitch to find it damp and soft. After winning the toss, skipper Ranns unsurprisingly elected to field first. With no Luke Ranns in the team this week, the role of opening fell to Will Davey and Louis Morris.

The seamers started with good patience, Brentwood’s attitude in the field noticeably better than the week before. It took just a couple of overs before the pressure told, with Reece Pinchback completing a run out after a mix up between the opening batsmen that included the shouts “Yes”, “No”, “Wait” and eventually “Sorry” before Piracha was removed for a duck.

However, despite slow scoring, new batsman Raja stayed with opener Ramdial to see out a solid bowling partnership between Davey and Morris. This brought bowling changes from both ends with captain Ranns and Jake Walker coming on to bowl. 

Dan made an immediate impact, but was unfortunate to see a catch dropped by Will Davey as he lost the ball in the sun. Jake also saw a chance go begging as his diving attempt to cling on to a return catch bounced out of his hand when his elbow hit the floor. However, it was just a matter of time before he had his man, this time a simpler caught and bowled chance held on to with ease. Number 3 Raja departed after making a quickfire 45.

Shortly afterwards Brentwood had their 3rd, this time captain Ranns saw the back of opener Ramdial with a catch held by Pinchback at mid-off. However, it was not long before the rain interrupted, a sudden downpour meant the players had to escape to the changing rooms. The team were not too concerned as they presumed the team with the longer innings would be losing overs. However, with the rain moving on shortly afterwards, a consultation with the rule book led to the discovery that it was in fact Brentwood losing overs.

Upon returning to the field, the side knew they would have to bowl well to restrict Wanstead to a chaseable total. The skipper made an excellent restart, with Roger Mahadeo holding on to a running catch at point to remove number 4 Rahman. 

Opening bowlers Davey and Morris returned, with Davey seeing the big hitting number 5 Patel put down by Walker after a top  edge went a mile in the air, a chance which in hindsight should have been left to keeper Bainbridge to take with the gloves. However Davey did take a wicket with Pinchback taking his second catch of the innings. Morris then had his reward for some testing bowling, producing an inswinging yorker to remove the Wanstead number 7. The rain then returned and the teams were off for another short delay, after which Arun Gautham came on to finish the innings with the returning Walker.

Patel was given another life when he fell into Gautham’s trap trying to hit straight down the ground, but a misjudgement saw Pinchback drop the catch at an awkward height. Dan Ranns then managed to grasp hold of a catch of Gautham before it slipped out of his fingers when he fell to the floor. The youthful PJ Jaques then was left wishing he was slightly taller when the ball flew past his outstretched arm. However, the drama was not over for that delivery as Davey set about chasing the ball, and a mix up resulted in the Wanstead number 8 run out.

Jake then saw Patel given another chance when Arun failed to hold on to a chance drilled at head height to him at mid-on. Reece Pinchback’s spectacular flying effort at long-off was not enough to prevent the ball going for four, and the final over from Jake going for an expensive 15. This left Brentwood requiring 180 to win, with Ranns the pick of the bowlers, bowling 9 overs for 38 runs and taking two wickets in the process. It was again a case of what might have been had the side held on to the chances offered by the Wanstead batsmen. 

Roger Mahadeo and Arun Gautham went out to open knowing they had to score at 5 an over to see Brentwood win the game. However, things could not have got off to a worse start when Arun was caught and bowled off of the first ball of the second over for just a solitary run. However, Louis Morris came in at 3 and steadied the ship with Roger. The pair both hit some nice strokes before Louis was stumped for a well made 33.

This brought wicketkeeper batsman James Bainbridge to the crease at 4, however he made just 7 runs before being bowled by Anish Patel. Ruku Sultan was next in at 5 after deciding he would rather bat down the order. The decision seemed to pay off early on as Ruku hit some nice shots, but then chased a wide ball and skewed his shot skywards to be caught for 15. The run rate was creeping up to 8 runs per over, and as Roger tried to attack he rode his luck quite significantly. He was dropped 3 times in the same manner at deep mid wicket, and in doing so passed 50. PJ joined him at number 6, and although he didn’t look overly troubled by the bowling, he struggled to score quickly and was caught for 4 runs as he tried to accelerate, the required rate creeping above 10.

A change in the batting order meant Will Davey came in at 7, with around 25 required from the final two overs. Unfortunately the pair were unable to score heavily in the penultimate over, leaving around 20 required from the final over. As Roger tried to secure victory for Brentwood, he was caught at long-on for an excellent 83. This left the hitting down to Reece and Will. However, Reece was bowled first ball as he tried to swing across the line of the ball, and Neil Webb in at 9 was in for the last two balls with still 20 required. There was no score from either ball which left Brentwood on 160 for 7 in their chase of 180.

It was an extremely tight game which the side will look back on in a more positive way than the opening weekend with a much better performance in all departments. It leaves the team looking to pick up their first win of the season when they host Ilford next weekend.

Match Report by Jake Walker