EARLEY’S fight for promotion continued as they recorded an emphatic 80-run victory against Mortimer West End to earn their 12th win of the campaign.
Earley batted first and made a solid start to their innings as the opening pair of Robert Casey and Vinod Aduri put over a half century of runs on the scoreboard before the first wicket fell.
Casey was dismissed for 43 runs as he was caught out by George Williams, bowled by Tom McClellan after he had hit nine boundaries in a quick innings.
The next partnership consisted of Aduri and Gary Shacklady contributing more than a century of runs combined as Earley stormed onto 159 before Aduri’s innings of 64, including 11 boundaries, was ended as he was caught by Harrison Macdonald, bowled by Ben Cook.
Earley continued their tremendous innings as Shacklady and Owen Bye formed another useful pairing at the crease to keep the runs ticking over. Shacklady hit 10 fours, finishing with a score of 72 before he was run out by McClellan.
The hosts finished their run-filled innings with a score of 253 from 40 overs, setting their opponents a challenging chase to contend with.
Mortimer began their chase with Andy Hobart and George Williams at the middle as their opening batsman.
Mike Hordley got Hobart out lbw to gain the first wicket of the innings as his batting stint ended on 20.
Shashank Goyal took the next wicket to dismiss William Bray for six runs and shortly after Bye ran Mortimer captain Mike Cook out for six to put the visitors chase in trouble.
Despite opening batsman Williams still batting a fine innings, he was denied a consistent partner thanks to Earley’s clinical bowling as Matthew Lappin picked up the next two wickets before Shacklady removed McClellan for just two runs.
With the overs diminishing quickly and Mortimer still well behind the required run rate, Earley made the most crucial breakthrough of the match as they eventually dismissed Williams on 103, caught out by Casey as Shacklady took his second wicket of the match.
A valiant solo effort from Williams would not prove to be enough as Mortimer finished their innings on 173-7, 80 runs short of the required total.
Earley batting: Casey 43, Aduri 64, Shacklady 72, Bye 48no, Goyal 1no, Howard dnb, Hordley dnb, Lean dnb, Gore dnb, Lappin dnb, Mapes dnb.
Earley bowling: Gore 0-25, Mapes 0-17, Hordley 1-29, Goyal 1-37, Lean 0-20, Lappin 2-24, Shacklady 2-13.
