Last man stand gives Trinity Mid-Whitgiftian vital win (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Last man stand gives Trinity Mid-Whitgiftian vital win

11:24am Monday 15th August 2011 in Cricket

OLD RUTLISHIANS 162-9

TRINITY MID-WHITGIFTIAN 163-9 S Cooper 5-35

Trinity Mid-Whitgiftian won by one wicket

A last wicket stand of 30 between Raj Chatwal and Mark Roberts saw Trinity Mid-Whitgiftian steal a crucial one-wicket win over Old Rutlishians in Saturday’s relegation showdown at Lime Meadow, writes Rob Keenan.

The gripping finale put a flattering gloss on a poor quality match which demonstrated clearly why both sides have found themselves struggling at the foot of the table.

Rutlishians won the toss and elected to bat first but struggled from the outset on a very slow pitch.

Winter and Roberts bowled out Mohammed and Riches cheaply before Pemberton was unnecessarily run out in search of a second run as Ruts slipped to 31 for 3.

A hard-fought partnership between Steve Dolben and Kevin Molloy lasting 18 overs put them back on track but Molloy’s controversial lbw dismissal prompted a decline which saw regular wickets fall.

Raj Chatwal picked up the wickets of Dolben and Saleem but a gutsy unbeaten 36 from Ruts captain Kevin Foster lifted his side to a competitive score, aided by an unimpressive total of 29 wides that Mids managed to bowl.

Chatwal, Winter and Roberts all finished with two wickets as Ruts closed their innings on 162 for 9.

A Mids batting line up bereft of confidence performed accordingly as Cooper dismissed Nowell and Piggin in his first four overs before Christian Bond heaved across the line and was bowled.

Stewart Sales and Jonathan Wood appeared to be putting Mids back in the ascendancy but they lost the initiative once more when Sales was given out lbw to spinner Mohammed and Wood then played a poor shot across the line in the next over.

Jesse James also played a dreadful shot enabling Peter Day to take a routine catch but Mike Brugnoli hit 28 quick runs to give them renewed hope as he and Chatwal edged Mids closer to the target.

However, a superb catch from Molloy to dismiss Brugnoli, one of the game’s few highlights, appeared to swing the match back in Ruts’ favour and victory looked almost a formality when Cooper caught Winter off his own bowling.

However, last pair Chatwal and Roberts gave their top order a lesson in how to approach the pursuit of a modest total, showing a combination of patience, composure and good sense in a tense situation.

As Ruts appeared to run out of bowling options the pair added 30 without too many scares along the way to seal Mids’ first win in six matches.

With one more victory needed to guarantee safety Mids finish the season with matches against the division’s top three sides starting with Saturday’s game at home to Bank of England.