Turner, Bath and Wood hold their nerve in last over nail biter.
Against the stunning backdrop of Blenheim Palace, Brigands played their first-ever fixture on the South Lawn and proceeded to provide an amusing diversion for the thousands of visitors exploring the palace and grounds throughout the afternoon.
Brigands were in the field for a forty over a side game; Ladenburg and Wood opened the bowling but were unable to achieve a breakthrough despite going close on a number of occasions. After a relatively shaky start, the Blenheim Park openers grew in confidence and the scoreboard began to tick along until Hemsley, coming on as first change, bagged the first wicket. However, it wasn’t until skipper Dave Henderson turned to Bath and Padget that the scoring rate was significantly slowed. Between them, the pair took five middle-order wickets with Bath’s three wickets (a treble wicket maiden) in seven overs particularly impressive. Harry Bates was outstanding in the field and Adam Jay bowled his first maiden for the Brigands. Some lusty blows by the Park’s tail saw them reach 141 - an eminently defendable total given the tricky nature of the wicket.
So, it proved with the Brigands losing three cheap wickets before tea was taken after ten overs of their innings. A fourth wicket was lost soon after the resumption with the score barely 40. However, on a wicket that was two-paced, Dave Turner curbed his natural attacking instincts to make an excellent 59 and hold the innings together as batting partners came and went. It wasn’t until he was joined by Mike Bath that the pair finally got on top of some tight bowling. Unfortunately, Turner fell just before the opposition’s score was overhauled and it was left to the cool head of Wood to strike the winning runs with three balls, and three wickets, to spare.