Mixed results for Walsham on bank holiday weekend
It was a mixed Bank Holiday weekend for Walsham-le-Willows as they bounced back from a defeat on Saturday with a victory on Monday.
Walsham started their weekend double-header in Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship Division Three with a trip to promotion-chasing Dunmow on Saturday.
The hosts won the toss and put Walsham into bat first, finding immediate success when opener Barry Lynn was caught for two.
Josh Rix (2-35) and Matthew Gibson (3-29) proved to be a formidable pairing with the ball for Dunmow, as Neil Baker (13), Ben George (four), Ashley Forbes (zero) and Liam Bryant (23) all departed to leave the visitors on 46-5.
Joe Bryant (31 not out) and James French (11) offered some resistance with a 37-run partnership, but a blistering spell from Baz Sewell (4-19) saw Walsham finish all out for just 111.
Defending a low score against a side pushing for promotion was always going to be a tough ask, and so it proved with only one wicket falling in the run chase.
Joe Gallant (17) was caught by Ashley Forbes, off the bowling of Liam Bryant (1-27), to reduce the hosts to 24-1, but opener Luke Swanston (32 no) and Oliver Rooney (63 no) took them over the line, reaching 112-1 inside 25 overs.
It was a quick turnaround for Walsham as they made the short trip to face Bury St Edmunds II on Monday.
Walsham batted first and the top five in the order all surpassed double figures, with captain Liam Bryant the top scorer with 38.
Baker, at number three, and Forbes, at five, were the next highest scores with 26 and 24, while Lynn and George made 16 and 12 respectively.
The bottom five in the order all fell for single figure scores, though, as the visitors were bowled all out for 134.
The wickets continued to tumble at the Victory Ground when Bury began their run chase, with openers Danny Harrison (one) and Dinesh Yadav (zero) scoring just one run between them.
Forbes (2-24) took the wickets of Harrison and Ian Plumb (zero), while Yadav was run out.
Ben Whittaker (31) and Ned Stanton (32 no) fought back for the home side, but Liam Bryant (2-41) had the former caught by Lynn and Stanton simply ran out of partners to build another partnership with.
George (2-28) claimed the wickets of Adam Kizis (13) and Josh Toon (zero), while Mark Rothon (2-27) got the better of Simon Aldous (one) and Saurabh Gupta (four).
Sam Harrison (18 no) remained unbeaten with Stanton as Bury finished on 129-9 after 44 overs, five runs short of the target set.
l Walsham (7th) return to action by hosting ninth-placed Woolpit II tomorrow (12.30pm), while Walsham Sunday II entertain Great Cornard the following day (1.30pm).
