Ashwell thumped by Chatteris

AN Ashwell team depleted by a combination of an early meet time necessary to get to Chatteris and England’s footballing exploits in South Africa saw them beaten by 147 runs on Saturday.

The early signs in the match were good for Ashwell as, having won the toss and elected to field, the opening bowlers restricted Chatteris to 52-2 from the first 20 overs.

Martin Talks (0-43 in 12 overs) was unlucky to remain wicketless and Gary Simmons (who finished his 12 overs with an excellent 2-25) kept the scoring rate in check.

The other bowlers continued to chip away at the Chatteris batting line up, with Jake England (1-29) removing the dangerous Cunningham for 60. Greg Tustain (1-36) and Will Hughes (1-34) also had success with the ball.

Chatteris skipper Anthony Palmer increased the tempo however in a well constructed innings of 87* as Ashwell began to wilt a little in the field – six dropped catches being an apt forerunner to Rob Green’s equally butterfingered efforts later in the day.

Chatteris closed their innings at 236-7 after 45 overs, having scored a huge 130 runs in the final 90 balls.

Ashwell’s reply began cautiously – Tom Wallace (21) and last week’s centurion Tim Moynihan (8) seeing off the opening spell from Palmer.

However once this pair were dismissed, Ashwell’s innings disintegrated rapidly as 30-0 became 56-6 before a much-needed cameo from Greg Tustain recovered the position a little.

Tustain made 29 (two 6s and three 4s), including 20 from one over, and pulled Ashwell up to a total of 89 but this was certainly a day to forget.