4th XI Roll On

Report courtesy of Alex Strong.

Another tropical day at the Prom saw Maldon’s 4^th XI host Felixstowe and Corinthians, looking to make it four wins out of four at the start of the season. Captain Joe Figg lost the toss and the hosts were sent out to bat first in the heat.

Steve Brown and Josh Servis opened the batting for Maldon looking to set a competitive total. The two got Maldon off to a brisk start, with Josh clubbing a devasting six over the bowler’s head inside the first few overs. Unfortunately, Josh went soon after, bowled by an imposing delivery by the visitors opening bowler. This brought Henry Miller to the middle, and he and Steve struck a chord early on, sparking a valuable partnership for Maldon. The pair rotated the strike well, preventing the bowlers from being able to settle into any sort of rhythm.

Henry began to establish himself at the crease, displaying his full repertoire in an array of lavish boundaries. At the other end Steve was showing faultless technique, and went on to hit a boundary of his own. The two looked set before a mix up led to an unfortunate run out dismissing Henry for a well-made 42. Steve was next to go caught for a firmly made 26.

Having been in a commanding position for most of the game Maldon had now slipped to 100-3. Oliver Hull and Joe Figg addressed each other in the middle, knowing they had to both steady the ship before kicking on to set an authoritative total. They did just that, first with some controlled shot making before expanding in the final ten overs. Ollie capped off the innings with an illustrious half century, including a number of efficient cricket shots, scoring at almost a run a ball. Both Ollie and Joe finished not out as Maldon ran up 184 runs from their forty overs.

Kian Woolston and Callum Figg opened the bowling for Maldon and forced a break through immediately. Kian took a wicket in the first over, well caught by Joe Entwistle. It wasn’t long before Kian was at it again, claiming a second scalp just a few overs later. The pressure was constant from both ends and Callum was finally rewarded for his efforts by sending the bails flying in one of the last overs of his spell.

Joe Entwistle and David Blackboro came on as the change bowlers and maintained the momentum for the hosts by sharing in the wickets. Dismantling of the woodwork had become a regular occurrence as the visitors had capitulated to 45-7 inside 20 overs. Alex Strong then came on to wrap the game up with three quick wickets.

An imperious victory had been sealed by the 4^th XI who preserve their unbeaten start to the 2021 campaign.

A huge thank you to Felixstowe and Corinthians for a good game played in the right spirit. Next week the 4^th team travel to West Mersea aiming to extend their winning start.