Haryom - 150 Jonathan Freedman 3-22, Simon Renshaw 3-40

LMV 2nd XI 151-9 Nigel Rothband 93

LMV 2nd XI finally got their first league win of the season with an extremely close victory over Haryom at Rowley Lane.

LMV won the toss and with a team consisting of nine Bowlers, a Batter and a Keeper, duly inserted Haryom. Jonathan Freedman opened up with an extremely accurate spell and was soon rewarded with an early wicket clean bowling Sid.

Daniel Cohen at the other end was struggling a little and after four overs was replaced by his Junior Maccabiah cohort Andrew Greenwall Cohen.

AGC produced a superb spell of accurate bowling of 7 overs 2 maidens, 8 runs and 2 wickets. Simon Renshaw took over from Freedman and despite some extremely unfortunate edges that went to the boundary took 3-40 in an excellent eight over spell; in addition he also took a superbly judged running catch on the long on boundary.

Freedy came back for a second spell and took two further wickets to finish with 3-22 from 7 and with captain Jonathan Lederman taking the final wicket. Haryom had been dismissed for 150, which on a lightning fast outfield was well below a par score.

The downside of bowling first at Rowley Lane is that the wicket can sometimes get a bit low in the second half of the match, and with the LMV batting not at its strongest, even this score was always going to be a challenge, and so it proved.

Maccabiah veteran Nigel Rothband opened up with Mark Spanjar and some accurate bowling from Ash, who bowled four consecutive maidens, kept the run rate down. A change of bowling at the other end led to a breakthrough as Spanjar and Benjamin Lederman fell in quick succession to Manoj. However Rothband was now starting to open up and he and Dan Caplan added 31 together before Caplan became Manoj’s third victim, with the score at 61-3.

Rothband was by this time in serious pain having “done a groin”, and was also suffering having Benjamin Lederman as his runner. Despite this he and Leders snr started to take the initiative away from the Haryom bowling adding 41 together, including Rothband reaching a well deserved 50, before a gozunder did for Leders, 102-4.

It soon became 105-5 when Cohen’s was bowled. This brought bowling star AGC to the crease, he and Rothband added 27 taking the score to 132 before AGC was bowled.

Four wickets remaining 19 runs required, Rothband was still at the crease but now in real discomfort. More discomfort followed as his son, Harry, was bowled with only one run added to the score, three wickets left 18 required, none of the crowd were leaving early from this match.

A superb shot over wide mid on by Rothband took him to 93 and the sore to 138, but next ball he is caught, having previously been dropped twice in quick succession, bringing to an end a really outstanding inning and robbing him of what would have been a well deserved ton. two wickets left 13 to win.

Two runs later and Simon Renshaw is cleaned bowled brings Adam Morris to the wicket to join Jonathan Freedman. With Morris facing, five wides took the score to 145. Next over a nerveless boundary by Freedman, imperiously smashing the ball through cover off a no ball, brought the score slevel. Next ball a dubious leg side wide gives LMV victory by one wicket.

Next stop, Southgate for another league match, this time against Harrow St Mary’s.