On a hot afternoon at Buxworth, OG 1st XI lost the toss and were asked to field against a Buxworth side languishing towards the bottom of the division, but more than capable of causing an upset against the faltering OG.
Openers Andy King and Rob Adderley bowled tightly and were rewarded when Rob clean bowled Inglefield early doors. He then followed this up with the important wicket of the big hitting Smith and Buggy were reeling at 25 for 2.
With the tight boundaries at Buggy runs are not easy to contain and a few flashing shots resulted in the Buggy score picking up to 60 for 2.
Keen to rest the tiring Adderley, Andy advised him to have one more over, but each time he did this the youngster produced a wicket, and finally with two more wickets under his belt Rob took a deserved rest.
Lenny then came on to replace him, and Eyrey replaced his skipper at the other end.
At this stage Buggy were 80 for 4 and their skipper John Theyer was at the crease. He chanced his arm a little in order to pick up the pace and was rewarded with some boundaries to take the total to 100 for the home team.
Lenny then produced two quick wickets, and a run out, and with Eyrey tempting a lofted shot from the Buggy no 7, caught by Andy at mid off, Buggy were now really struggling at 118 for 8.
Benstead for Buggy proved stubborn and he batted for a number of overs to frustrate OG and score valuable runs for Buggy. He was finally out to Andy (2 for 33) together with the final batsman with the total at 164 with 6 overs remaining.
With Dave Donnelly running scared from the pacey Theyer, the opening slot was filled by Jonny “Inzy” Wright, and he and Eyrey set about chasing the Buggy total. Both decided that their usual tactic of looking for quick singles was not necessary on such a small ground, and instead scored boundaries against the Buggy attack.
Both looked solid and they gave OG a good start, scoring 50 in tandem before Eyrey (24) was caught at slip chasing a 3rd boundary in 3 balls. Jamie Cannon joined Inzy and played the support role for a while as Inzy settled into his role with a flurry of 4’s, including one Trescothick esque chip over the slip cordon for 4.
Inzy finally fell for a well-earned 29 and this brought Macca to the crease with the score 54 for 2.
This proved to be the last wicket to fall on the day as Jamie (40 no) and Macca (68 no) forged an unbeaten century partnership to take the game away from Buggy. Some sensible running between the wickets entwined with some excellent stroke play from both, and some brutal hitting from Macca was good to watch and the OG middle and lower order watched proceedings from the benches with some relief after the events of recent weeks.
With 25 overs remaining, Macca deservedly hit the winning runs to cap an excellent personal display which included numerous 4’s and 6’s, and only one chance which was spilled by Buggy.
Jamie proved that he has an array of shots to compete at this level, and OG returned to winning ways with 21 points.