Braintree’s First Eleven hosted near neighbours Haverhill in their latest Two Counties Division Two fixture and looked well on the way to recording their fourth win on the bounce, however somehow, they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Having posted a score of 251 they reduced the opposition to 168 for the loss of 8 wickets, unfortunately they allowed the visitors to reach the target with 4 balls and a wicket to spare.
Skipper Chris Leech won the toss and elected to bat first and having posted individual scores of 77 and 103 in the previous two games he was hoping for another decent knock, However, with just 5 runs against his name he was completely deceived by Khalid Saeed and he found his stumps dismantled.
Warren Celiz was available to play his annual game and showed that he hadn’t lost the ability to score runs quickly as he sent five consecutive deliveries racing to the boundary. Matt Renvoize was a little more subdued, however when he received a long hop from Callum Lewis, he deposited the ball into the spectators in front of the pavilion and almost did the same with the next delivery but was just inches short. The pair put on 122 runs for the second wicket, unfortunately having scored 61 off 50 balls Celiz got an edge and Phil Dingley took a regulation catch behind the stumps. Renvoize cleared the boundary ropes on two more occasions however when on 62 he got a top edge and Aaron Forshaw took a good catch.
At drinks, the Dolphins were in the strong position of 154 for the loss of only 2 wickets however the middle order collapsed as Chris Hinks (4), Dan Chalk (2), Luke Gouldstone (0) and Robbie Spalding (0) were all sent back to the pavilion in quick succession. Only Bryn Powell could stay around for any length of time making his way to 29 before he too lost his wicket. Louis Cant did his best to push the scores along unfortunately when on 15 he was clean bowled. Grace Poole struck 6 boundaries in the space of 8 deliveries, however going for another big hit she lost her stumps and Braintree were all out for 251.
In reply Haverhill got off to a steady start putting on 36 runs for the first wicket before Robbie Spalding put in an excellent spell of medium pace bowling. Russell Davies (14) was first to depart as Spalding sent his stumps cartwheeling, he then had Andrew Argent (19) magnificently caught by a diving Bryn Powell in the slips, Jordan Fossey (21) was then caught by Chris Hinks and Max Egan (4) became his fourth victim when he drove straight to Louis Cant. When Chris Hinks had Aaron Forshaw (1) well caught by Luke Gouldstone the visitors had lost their first five wickets for 85.
Bryn Powell took over the wicket keeping gloves when Matt Renvoize suffered an injury and took two catches as Rob Dovastan (8) and Callum Lewis (29) both snicked off the bowling of Grace Poole. When Craig Williams was caught and bowled by Louis Cant for 47, Haverhill were still 84 runs short of victory with only 2 wickets remaining.
With nothing to lose the visitors swung the bat at virtually every delivery and it came off, however they still required a further 35 when Phil Dingley (31) was caught just inside the ropes by Dan Chalk. Chalk then surprisingly spilled a catch a few balls later, it was to prove costly as Khalid Saeed (43*) and Martin Towers (9*) continued the onslaught and reached the target in the 45th over. Although that particular dropped catch proved crucial, other chances had previously gone begging and complacency in the field went a long way to the Dolphin’s defeat.