A six wicket haul from Falkland 2’s skipper Duncan Johnson wasn’t enough to stop his side falling to a heavy defeat at the hands of visitors Wargrave 2’s at Enborne Lodge on Saturday.

On a hot day the toss was crucial and Wargrave 2’s skipper Jack Clark called correctly and had no hesitation in batting first. Mark Otley took the new ball for Falkland 2’s and struck with his fourth ball trapping the dangerous Mandip Sohi lbw for 4. The home side had to wait for another 25 overs before their next success as Peter Dean and Avi Pasikanti patiently compiled a partnership of 83 which was broken by a fine caught and bowled in Johnson’s first over to dismiss Pasikanti for 38. Another frustrating partnership of 58 was then compiled by Dean and Kieran Lall until a double wicket maiden from Johnson nailed Lall for 27 and then Mayank Gudimetla for a first ball duck. Wargrave 2’s were 149-4 through 38 overs and at this stage the home side felt they were well in the game. Graham Beal bowled Louis Dean for 15 and Johnson hung on to another couple of caught and bowled chances but a quick fire 28 from just 16 balls from Freddie Meader proved crucial until he ran at Johnson and was stumped by Ollie Hamlin. With five overs to go Wargrave 2’s were 206-6 but Dean and Adit Rajeev put their feet to the floor and accelerated impressively to the finish line, Dean completing a fine century to carry his bat for 110* and Rajeev a useful 11 from 7 balls. 46 runs were added in the last five overs and that really put Falkland 2’s in the back foot approaching the chase as Wargrave 2’s ended their 52 overs on 252-8.

Johnson bowled unchanged for 14 overs to yield a 6-71 return, Otley 10 overs 1-31 and Beal 7 overs 1-49 were the other bowlers amongst the wickets on a flat Enborne Lodge deck.

If the home side were to stand any chance of chasing down the target it was crucial that one of the top order replicated Dean’s innings but Chris Baker (6), Jim Ettridge (9) and Pete Borton (5) were all back in hutch inside the first 6 overs and a nightmare 20-3 start was the result. Charlie Hamlin and Johnson rebuilt with a partnership of 60 before Johnson edged Sohi to Clark in the gully for a fluent 33. Ollie Hamlin (1) and Graham Beal (6) came and went and once Mark Firth had spun one through Charlie Hamlin’s defences for a defiant 34, the writing was on the wall. Zach Pool entertained in his usual style with a bright and breezy 36 from just 18 balls but Firth put an end to the fun as Pool ran down the track and was stumped. The innings fell away and Otley was the last man out lbw for 1 as Wargrave 2’s wrapped up the win in just 37.1 overs, bowling their hosts out for 142 to win by an impressive margin of 110 runs.

Falkland 2’s travel to Purley next week and will be looking to get back to winning ways with a much improved performance.

By Duncan Johnson