1sts lose to league leaders Loddington (03/08/19)

Willoughby’s struggles continue as they suffered another heavy defeat at The Green with league leaders Loddington & Mawsley’s seconds the latest beneficiaries of another disastrous batting display by the hosts.

Having lost the toss, the visitors were asked to bat first and set a useful but by no means unreachable target. Openers Steve Denton and Ryan Hawthorn looked tidy in making 32 and 25, taking advantage of one loose ball an over to build a platform, that was until it took some variation with the ball from James Goodwin and Kamesh Ganti to get both out. After that Scott Ramsay and Ruban Singh played sensibly and it was looking like Willoughby could keep the runs down and make inroads.

However with just over 12 overs to go, the visitors started to up the rate after Singh was out. Joshua King batted well and looked solid for his quickfire 38 which changed the complexion of the game as instead of Willoughby chasing 150, it was now heading towards 200. In contrast to their top order, Loddington’s lower order could offer a little as Dan Farrow claim his first hat trick by taking out the tailenders as the visitors were bowled out for 181.

Any hopes of Willoughby chasing down that target after tea were once again torn to shreds after another shocking start inside the opening three overs. Hawthorn (2 for 12) and Harry Dennis-Jones (3-8) shared the wickets to rattle through Willoughby’s opening batsmen and reduce the home side to a calamitous 6 for 4.

Goodwin and Ryan Perry came in and attempted to steady the ship by batting until the 20th over, however the visitor’s pressure did not ease off after a bowling change as Willoughby continued to find runs hard to come by. Ben Hollis however made 24, Ganti 14 and Michael Deery 18 not out but those contributions aside Willoughby could offer little else and were bowled out for only 82 with 11 overs still to spare.