Newbury Cricket Club fall to defeat despite Sawant and Anstey efforts
Newbury Cricket Club defied the rain to get their match played at home to Wargrave on Saturday.
They fell to a narrow defeat against the league’s bottom side however, losing by four wickets.
They were made to bat first, having lost the toss.
Shailesh Sawant led from the front, as the opener batted patiently on his way to 29 from 53 balls.
His opening partner Lewis Mitchard had contrasting fortunes however, out for a duck after just five balls.
Arriving at three however was Charlie Anstey, who partnered Sawant well.
The veteran stuck by Sawant throughout 49 deliveries, hitting 24 runs of his own before being caught by Joe Neall.
Two wickets then fell in quick succession however, as Rohit Sengupta went for a four-ball duck, before Zeeshan Pathan made just five from 16 balls.
Newbury needed a presence to steady the ship in the middle order.
Jagjit Singh was happy to provide this, hitting 24 from a 43 ball innings.
He had little in the way of steady company however, as the lower order tumbled around him.
None of Newbury’s final five batters were able to score more than single figures, as the hosts were bowled out for 123 inside 36 overs.
Wargrave’s response didn’t get off to a great start.
Both openers made 16, before Luke Taylor was caught by Kevin Mills and captain Peter Dean was caught and bowled by Vinoth Kumar Panneer Selvam.
It was Louis Dean, batting at three for Wargrave, who transformed the visitors’ innings.
He hit 44 from 72 balls, handling the Newbury bowling attack with style to finish not out.
Wickets fell around him however, as Newbury looked to bowl Wargrave out in time.
They made good progress but Achint Rajeev, batting at eight, hit 20 not out to get his side over the line for a four wicket win.
Charlie Anstey went 4-35 with the ball, but Wargrave’s Rajeev stole the show in that department by taking six wickets for just 21 runs earlier in the day.
The loss keeps Newbury firmly in midtable, searching for redemption on Saturday as they travel to league leaders Bracknell United.
