Munt's Mercy Mission Meets Massive Mishap

OSCC, 107-6, beat Kemptson, 106 all out, by 4 wickets

And I would walk five hundred miles

And I would walk five hundred more

Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles

So I could get cleaned up first ball

Offley stormed into the top six of the Bedfordshire League - an entire third of the teams in the division are now below us - with a four-wicket win at Kempston.

Offley restricted the hosts to just 106 as Ben Wiles took three wickets and Mark Tattersall claimed two more as Kempston were shot out with nearly five overs to spare.

The run chase began poorly.

Luke Munt - called up at the eleventh hour after an exhausting morning 's ~~dogging~~ dog-walking - was undone by the first delivery he faced.

This was an undeserved fate for Luke who had sped across Bedfordshire to do his bit for the cause.

He had literally walked a thousand miles to open the batting.

Therefore it was unfortunate he should have to walk a few more yards back to the pavilion within 30 seconds of taking guard.

Things promptly got worse as skipper Scott Boatwright was also dismissed without scoring, trapped plum in front according to Umpire (J) Barker.

Various sources seem to agree this was a fairly comprehensive verdict, the only disagreement being whether Boatwright was actually playing some sort of shot or not.

Either way he was on his way back without troubling the scorers.

Well, you can't spell Boaty without the O.....

Kempston's hopes were firmly dashed by a third-wicket partnership between Jono Evetts and Josh Scott.

Evetts made 28 while Scott hit an unbeaten 44 which means he currently leads the Offley run charts this year.

Evetts' dismissal led to a brief flurry of wickets.

Kaiz Ul-Haq made a breezy 7 before Gary Davison became the fourth Offley batter of the weekend to be given out LBW, a decision that sources have suggested was missing leg stump and going over the top of it for good measure.

It might not make the shortlist for the worst decision of the year (Messrs Cutts and Taylor look to have that one sewn up) but nonetheless Umpire Boatwright saw fit to raise his finger.

Danny O'Brien came and went for a single before Scott joined forces with Wiles with an unbeaten seventh-wicket stand.

Wiles made an impressive 17 not out, a knock that lifts his Beds League average from the depths of 4.83 to the broad sunlit uplands of 7.66.

The win means we're currently 50 points above the drop zone and it's on to Eggington next week where Offley will seek one of the two victories (from eight matches) that should seal yet another thrilling season of Bedfordshire League Division Four cricket.

Comments

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