Willoughby’s Midweek 1st XI have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Rugby and District Cricket League (RDCL) Senior KO Cup Quarter-Finals following victory at Division 1 Newbold-on-Avon.

It was a deserved victory which came on the back of a decent all round performance with the bat and particularly in the field to
Batting first, the visitors got off to a decent start with openers Ceri Roberts and Scott Cluley making 21 and 28 respectively, but the hosts were kept the progress in check with the middle order going relatively cheaply. At 69 for 4 just after the halfway mark, the innings needed further impetus to set a competitive total and it came late on with Mark Fell making a useful 29 not out to take Willoughby to 135 for 8 off their 20 overs. For the Newbold attack, Danny Scott and Danny Wood took two wickets apiece.

Your correspondent did make mention that something around 130-140 would make things interesting and so it proved. Jake Quinney and Dan Farrow were given responsibility for the opening overs; the former taking out opener Meacham with Farrow causing problems from the other end. However, one of the keys to the outcome of the game was going to be the contributions of the Scott brothers in Newbold’s side, and the introduction of Ben Hollis into the Willoughby attack saw the removal of the first, opener and wicketkeeper skipper Jason with a catch behind by Matty Nobes for 14. At halfway, Newbold had reached 45 for 2, but with 90 required off the last 10 overs and Craig Scott still there at 3 Newbold were always in the hunt. But the visitors kept up the pressure as Hollis completed his four over stint by removing Danny Scott and Phil Macguire in his last over, both into the hands of Mark Fell to finish with fine figures of 3 for 10.

Nevertheless Newbold were still in contention requiring 50 off the last five overs, but then came perhaps the final pivotal moment to swing momentum back in Willoughby’s favour. Having made 48 and looking set to fire up in the closing stages, Craig Scott hesitated in mid-wicket looking for a second run was run out by that man Hollis with Nobes doing the rest behind the stumps.

From there, Willoughby closed the game down as 45 runs were required off the last three overs and 19 off the last, with Jake Q rattling the stumps for his second scalp (finishing with 2 for 22) and Dan completing his four overs by doing everything but not being rewarded with a wicket (0 for 13).

Although the eventual margin of victory of six runs may appear narrow on paper, in truth it was more comfortable than it suggests; in particular when you take out half the bad balls that were captialised on particularly to the short boundary pavilion side of the ground along with a couple of dropped catches in the field.

Overall the win was no more than the visitor’s efforts deserved and a place in the last eight of the RDCL KO Cup and more Division 1 opposition await.

News of the quarter-final draw to follow when available.