Dropped catches cost Finch the game

Published 29 Jul 2010 09:30

FINCHAMPSTEAD's joint skipper Russell Lane rued his side's dropped catches as they fell to an eight-wicket defeat to Falkland on Saturday.

Finch were looking for their third win on the bounce in Home Counties Division Two West following their shock win against Thame Town the previous week.

Falkland meanwhile remain fourth in the division thanks to Bruce Martin's match-winning knock of 91. James Ettridge plundered another 68 to help his side reach 218-2 off 43 overs.

Finch won the toss and started their innings well with openers Russell Lane (53) and Ed McGregor putting on the highest opening stand of the season with 81.

But a remarkable collapse was to follow among the upper middle order batsmen as skipper Matt Jones and Simon Bell made just two runs for the next three wickets leaving Finch on 85-4.

Lane commented: "It was a pretty significant collapse by the middle order. It made it hard to dig us out of a significant hole before lunch.

"It made it hard for us to set an aggressive target."

Both batsmen fell to spinner Khalid Zafar who collected five wickets overall in his 22-over spell.

However, Finch picked it up with some sound batting from the middle order led by Andrew House (40) and Sam Taylor, who saw the score to 177 by the fall of the seventh wicket. Andrew Douglas then plundered a useful 29 to see them finish at 217-9.

Falkland responded strongly with openers Ettridge and Will Chaloner putting on 61 before Sam Cheetham removed Chaloner for 31.

All-rounder Martin was brought to the crease and he put on a match-winning partnership of 152 with Ettridge finishing on 68 not out.

Lane said: "I'm obviously disappointed to lose in such a convincing fashion but Falkland deserved the win and batted much better than we did.

"We dropped too many chances, if we had caught all the chances we should have it would probably have been the right total.

"We dropped six catches which isn't good enough and that was significant in the game."

Lane is unfazed by Finch's run coming to an end and remains confident in his side's ability to get results. He said: "We will continue playing really good cricket and eventually it will go our way. We are in for a fight. I don't think any side on paper is rest assured of promotion or relegation. One or two wins can take you up to the top three or four in the league."

Skipper Matt Jones will be missing for the crucial clash against Harefield on the weekend. The reverse fixture was rained off earlier this season and Lane admits Harefield will be an unknown quantity when the sides meet.

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