Sat. 12th Sept. WCCL Division 46 Corsham 3s 259-6 Melksham 248-7
MELKSHAM Cricket Club’s disappointing run of results continued with defeat away to Corsham 3s, with Joe Veacock’s magnificent century not enough to prevent his side being edged out in a high-scoring thriller.
Being asked to bowl first on a surface that promised plenty of runs from the off, Melksham did make an early breakthrough through the bowling of Gary Ings. No further wickets were immediately forthcoming though, with Corsham able to sustain a consistently high run-rate over the course of the first 20 overs. Come the half-way stage of the innings, the hosts looked set to run away with the contest with a dominant score of 120-1.
Slower bowler Mark Mullis then stepped up to hand his side a lifeline with 2 quick wickets: first thanks to a good catch in the deep from Dan Carpenter, before claiming a caught-and bowled for himself. Fortunately for Corsham this proved to be only a minor setback, who continued their impressive performance with the bat by reaching 181-3 by the 36th over.
Captain Joe Veacock claimed 2 wickets next over to give his side a chance of a strong finish, but the hosts ensured this was not to be with a vicious onslaught in the final few overs. Come the end of the innings, Corsham had posted a mammoth total of 259-6; with Matt Lee claiming the additional wicket late on.
Although the target was certainly an intimidating one, Melksham knew that the batting-friendly conditions meant that they had every chance of pulling off a stunning victory. Openers Matt Hunt and Daniel Carpenter got the reply off to a solid if not spectacular start. But when both batsmen fluffed their lines in the 10 over to provide the fielding side with easy catches, the visitors were left struggling on 29-2. Joe Veacock and Ross Holbrook were the new batsmen at the crease and ensured that Melksham stayed in the contest over the following overs. Both batsmen were able to accumulate runs without taking any undue risks, and by the half-way stage, Melksham were on 108-2 off 23 overs: somewhat behind the run-rate but still in with a chance.
Holbrook would go on to be dismissed for 46 in the 32nd over and following this, wickets did begin to fall more regularly: with Russ Collins (1), Freddie Honeybone (2), Mark Mullis (7), and Gary Ings (6) all coming and going in quick succession. Veacock refused to give in though, soon launching into a foray of boundary-hitting to prevent Corsham from taking victory for granted.
Come the 40th over Melksham required 61 off the last 30 balls, but the continued heroics of Melksham’s captain meant that by the final over, his side still had an outside chance with 19 runs still to get. This was not to be after a decent final over from Corsham, but there was no doubt which player was star-of-the-show when Veacock finished the innings with an epic 134 not out off just 111 balls.
Although there was plenty of positives to take from a cracking contest against a strong Corsham side, Melksham will nonetheless look to put to a stop their run of defeats when they travel to play Chippenham 3s on Saturday 19th September.
