GALLERY: Wisbech show their character against Saffron Walden II to make it two Tucker Gardner league wins from two
Wisbech cricket v Saffron Walden II. Picture: Steve Williams. - Credit: Archant
Captain Gary Freear praised Wisbech Town’s spirit after they once again dug deep when defeat looked on the cards and pulled off a win.
At Harecroft Road on Saturday, Wisbech batted first against Saffron Walden II and posted an imposing 272-7 declared off 39 overs.
There were contributions throughout the order - Sam Albutt (34) and Simon Freear (36) got the innings off to a good start, before Gary Freear (58) and Danny Haynes (54) laid the platform for Tom Meyrick (21 off 12) and Jamie Gollands (17 off 7) to cut free at the end of the innings.
Everything was going swimmingly when Wisbech restricted Saffron to 49-3, but a couple of big partnerships carried them to 235-5, within touching distance of victory.
For the second week running, Wisbech’s bowlers held their nerve, claiming the last five wickets for 13 runs, as Saffron were dismissed for 248, 24 runs short of the target.
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The win means Wisbech, Ketton and Godmanchester are the only sides with a 100 per cent record after two games in the Tucker Gardner league.
Freear said: “The plan was to declare because we knew we would need a lot of overs to bowl them out on such a flat wicket.
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“We like to play positive cricket. It’s worth risking losing to try to win. At the end, when it looked like we were going to lose, I could have brought the fast bowlers on and we would have gone off because it was so dark.
“But I decided to bowl the spinners and gamble for the win.
“There is a really good togetherness and a fantastic team spirit in this side. To have won two games we had a good chance of losing is very pleasing.”
Up next for Wisbech is a trip to Burwell. Freear expects a “tough” game.
“If we are not on top form they will turn us over,” he said.
