FARLEY Hill edged out Woodley by just 13 runs in a match full of impressive batting performances.
Farley elected to bat first having won the toss and began their innings in a strong manner to build a platform of runs to build on before the first wicket was taken.
Michael Sherdian was bowled out by Pradeep Kadloor for 30 runs as Woodley gained the first wicket of the innings.
The visitors Woodley had to remain patient to take wickets as a resilient Farley order provided resistance against any kind of collapse, while continuing to keep the run rate at a consistently high level.
Ali Jalil’s innings was brought to an end on 42 as he was run out by Tajdar Jawaid, before Simon Longfield was next to be dismissed, falling just short of reaching a half century on 47 runs.
Woodley were only able to take two more wickets, with Amol Lotke bowling out William Nash-Wortham on 24 before Akeesh Khokar was caught out on 95 after batting a superb performance.
Farley their 40 overs with an impressive score of 267-5.
With a big score to chase, Woodley made their task a whole lot trickier as Duncan Greeff caught and bowled Sumanth Gopal for zero.
Greeff then captured his second wicket of the day as he bowled out Prasad Kulkarni for 20 and despite losing Lotke for 15 and then Kafloor for 29, Woodley continued to make a good fight of the chase as opening batsman Rajiv Dhalam kept the run rate up.
Sri Harsha added a valuable 55 runs to the total as Woodley kept the game alive, but the dismissal of Dhalam (93) and Harsha proved to be vital for Farley.
Dave Neilson performed wonders with the ball as he took four wickets to prevent Woodley from getting any closer to the target. Woodley’s innings was eventually ended with just two balls left in the innings and 13 runs short of the required target in a closely contested match.
Farley Hill batting: Jalil 42, Sheridan 30, Longfield 47, Khokar 95, Nash-Wortham 24, Sankey 2no, Greeff 9no, Coney dnb, Ditchburn dnb, Neilson dnb, Heaton-Wright dnb.
Woodley bowling: Raina 1-39, Harsha 0-50, Acharya 0-12, Kadloor 1-39, Jawaid 0-44, Lotke 1-31, Jamadar 0-26, Dhalam 1-17.
Woodley batting: Dhalam 93, Gopal 0, Kulkarni 20, Lotke 15, Kadloor 29, Harsha 55, Jawaid 12, Jamadar 4, Purswani 8, Raina 1, Acharya 2no.
Farley Hill bowling: Greeff 2-34, Neilson 4-45, Jalil 1-62, Coney 0-22, Heaton-Wright 1-44, Sankey 2-37.
