Melksham Cricket Club have finally got an eagerly awaited 2024 cricket season underway after a frustratingly wet winter delayed pre-season and threatened to cause significant disruption to the start of the league campaign.
The newly promoted 1st XI initially saw life in Wiltshire Country Cricket League (WCCL) Division 2 get off to a frustrating start with an away defeat to Bradford-on-Avon.
The afternoon had got off to a reasonably promising start after Melksham bowled Bradford for a mediocre total of 165 inside 30 overs, although the away side were left to ponder if what could have been if they had dismissed Bradford opener Joe Pike earlier, who scored a significant portion of his side’s runs with a score of 106.
It was the spin duo of Chris Singh (3-27) and Mustafa Nasiri (3-36) who led the way during, giving Melksham a reasonable platform from which to push on from and claim and victory.
The run-chase proved to be a tense one with progress towards the target coming slowly for Melksham. Lewie Simmons (36) and Joe Veacock (35) were the batsmen who made the most significant contributions towards the Melksham cause, but Bradford were able to chip away with key wickets to keep the pressure on as the innings progressed. Nonetheless it was Melksham who were in the stronger position as the innings reached its climax, requiring less than 30 runs to win with five wickets in hand. Unfortunately, there was a final cruel twist in the tale; the visitor’s tail collapsed in the final overs nine runs short of victory, allowing the hosts to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and condemning Melksham to a losing start to life in Division 2.
Thankfully the following week’s home tie against Box saw the 1st XI promptly kick start their season, with an unbeaten century from skipper Adam Mitchell powering his side to what was in the end an emphatic 8-wicket victory.
The travelling Box side did initially make Melksham toil during the 1st innings, posting a formidable total of 222 for the loss of five wickets. However, this total proved to be relatively light work in the end thanks to Mitchell’s captain’s knock of 138 not out which, along with contributions from Lewie Simmons (29), Russ Collins (19) and Paul Merrett (27 not out), allowed Melksham to cruise to their first Division 2 win with more than six overs to spare.
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