Willoughby Vs Old Northants

Willoughby welcomed an in form Old Northamptonians to the green and expected a tough fixture with an inexperienced batting line up. The skipper won the toss and with the unpredictable weather and strong bowling attack opted to field first.

It proved a bad toss to win as Old had the better of the weather as during the 1st innings interruptions of rain softened up the ball to halt any swing on offer. After 2 early wickets Willoughby were unfortunate not to dismiss Deeming (57) on multiple occasions as he rode his luck in a partnership of over 80 with Muktar (44). Martin Nichols (1-22) finally dismissed Deeming but another partnership of over 60 between Muktar and Heathfield (33*) progressed the innings to 181 for 5 off 40 overs. It was a frustrating innings full of half chances, edges and luck, both Archie McMillan (2-43) and Jake Quinney (1-35) unlucky not to pick up 3 or 4 wickets apiece.

It would prove a tough chase with a very inexperienced batting order on offer and things couldn't have started worse as Willoughby slumped to 33 for 5 off 7 overs. James Andrews (17) and Michael Deery (37) dug in for 13 overs before Deery was dismissed playing on. Sean Thornton provided fireworks and a quickfire 16 had Willoughby at 72 for 8 off 26 overs. With 10 an over required the skipper decided to take on the bowling and put on a partnership of 41 with Andrews, then another 20 for the final wicket to finish on 33*. Willoughby finally all out for 133 after a late counterattack.

Another disappointing defeat where luck, an inexperienced and poor batting performance from the team was enough to take Willoughby to their 3rd loss of the season.