Great Totham Cricket Club secured 2 wins from 3 as the 1st and 3rd XIs beat Springfield & Rainham respectively last weekend.
The 1s, without a win in 2021, faced Springfield at Bull Meadow with the visitors winning the toss and electing to bat first. Great Totham’s bowling attack restricted Springfield to 194/9 at the end of their 45 overs. Debutant Taidgh Kinsella (3/39) and Sam Bowen (4/45) the bowling stars on a pitch that offered assistance if you put the ball in the right area. Totham lost Captain Rob Hewer in just the second over of their reply but Tom Hawkridge (71 from 68) and Liam Jones (79 from 76) compiled a vital partnership of 151 to all but seal the result. Springfield did fight back after Hawkridge was caught on the square leg boundary, but Great Totham went on to win the game with just under 12 overs and 5 wickets remaining. The win moves them up to 8th in the T Rippon Premier Division, and they travel to 7th placed Great Baddow next Saturday looking to push on into mid-table.
The 2s travelled to Great Waltham away from home. Captain Stuart Pearson won the toss and elected to bat first. After a solid opening partnership with usual 3rd XI captain Jack Ridge. Totham collapsed after Pearson ran himself out for the second time in two weeks. Brothers Barry (23 from 40) and Kevin Mays (35 from 58), built solidly to 121/5 before another collapse saw Totham finish on 136 all out. Great Waltham’s openers put on 78 runs before veteran campaigner Olly Kendall (1/25) made the breakthrough for Totham. Owen McCaulsland removed both Waltham’s set batsmen in quick succession with the score around 120, but it was too little too late, as Waltham won comfortably with 6 wickets to spare. The loss leaves the 2s in 9th place in Division 3, still without a win in 2021 and only off the bottom due to bonus points. Captain Pearson will be hoping for greatly improved performances over the coming weekends to avoid the drop this year.
The 3s, sitting in 4th place in Division 10 only due to a points deduction following a clerical error by Captain Jack Ridge had a “top of the table” clash against Rainham 4th XI at home. The visitors elected to bat first after winning the toss. Totham made the breakthrough first ball through Jess Pugh, caught by a sprawling Taite Garrett at gully. Jess went on to claim 2 more wickets in her 5 over spell getting Totham off to a quick start. She was replaced by Stand-in Captain Sam Yeates who ripped through the Rainham batting order taking five wickets for just 10 runs from his 8 over spell. Young spinner Tom Wheeler took the final 2 wickets. Tight fielding and the excellent bowling from Totham restricted the visitors to just 94 runs. Jacob Slater scored 32 runs from 105 balls as he anchored the Totham chase, contributions from James Hay (17 from 23) and Ryan Kennedy (16 from 37) ensured that the 3rd XI won the match convincingly with 6 wickets to spare. Next week they travel to bottom of the league Rankins and will be looking to pick up maximum points to continue their promotion push.
