2XI – STAND v PRESTWICH

Prestwich went into this local derby with Stand keen to get their campaign to regain the Second Division title off to a winning start.

New skipper, John Fiorentini, lost the toss and Stand elected to bat on a good wicket which offered something for both bat and ball.

Opening bowlers John Walters and Matthew Walsh bowled well in tandem at the start of the Stand innings, restricting the home side to very few scoring shots in the first 10 overs.

Walsh picked up two wickets in his spell of 6/2/20/2, whilst Walters bowled 12 consecutive overs, and was unlucky to finish with only 1-14, following a spell of outswing bowling that deserved much more.

John Kerambrum, replaced Walsh, and continued the excellent work of his two fellow pacemen. Bowling a tight spell, in which the batsmen found it difficult to score runs, he suffered only three scoring shots in his extraordinary figures of 10/7/10/1.

Last year’s 2nd X1 captain, Peter Lorenzini, replaced Kerambrum following the latter’s excellent restrictive spell, and continued the good work of his fellow seamers, as he also got in on the act by claiming 1-9 off 5 overs in a good spell of medium pace bowling.

At the other end, left arm spinner Damon Montgomery replaced Walters, and enjoyed a much welcomed return to competitive cricket following a serious arm injury suffered mid-way through the 2009 season. He wasted little time in settling into his rhythm with an excellent spell of spin bowling, in which his variations of pace and flight posed many problems for the Stand middle and lower order. Montgomery ended the Stand innings with the exceptional figures of 11.5/5/11/5, by claiming his fifth wicket, and Stand’s last, to leave the home side on 79 all out off 42.5 overs.

In reply, Prestwich openers Fiorentini and David Taylor made short work of reaching the required target. Fiorentini finished on 36 not out and Taylor on 30 not out, as Prestwich reached 82-0 in just under 20 overs.