High Roding first eleven suffered their second defeat of the season on Saturday away to last season’s champions Springfield, ending their run of four straight league victories. Springfield won the toss and opted to bat first on an overcast day with heavy rain forecast later in the afternoon. Roding’s bowlers struggled in windy conditions and Springfield’s top order helped themselves to regular boundaries. Some positive running between the wickets also contributed to a strong start from the home team, however the rain came much earlier than anticipated. Two significant breaks in the game due to heavy rain resulted in an early tea with Springfield 125-3 from 24.3 overs. The rain stopped, and the sun came out, however the covers had not protected the wicket from the heavy rain and a further delay was necessary while the pitch dried out. The game was revised to 25 overs a side, and Roding finished strongly taking two wickets and only conceding 1 run from the remaining 3 deliveries of the innings. Captain Jim Symonds top scored for the home side with 63. Roding’s own captain also lead by example taking 3-41, with Springfield finishing on 126-5 from their 25 overs.
Roding’s innings started slowly, with wickets hindering progress. Accurate spin bowling from both ends, combined with a damp, slow outfield and fielding restrictions ensuring fielders remained close to the bat meant runs looked hard to come by until Mel Hussain cut loose, clearing the boundary 5 times before eventually being caught on the boundary for 65. More big hitting from Simon James saw Roding into a strong position, needing 27 to win from the final 5 overs with 5 wickets in hand, before his dismissal for 14 sparked a lower order collapse. High Roding finished 105 all out. 4-50 from S Dance, and 3-4 from W Khalid were the pick of the bowlers for Springfield.
The defeat sees league leaders Bentley extend the gap at the top with an impressive 7 wins from 7 this season. Roding remain in second place, just one point ahead of Springfield. High Roding host Stock at The Meadow this Saturday.