THIS was a classic case of déjà vu for the Ordulph with the same batting problem that lost them the previous game coming back to haunt them again. Winning the toss, there was no hesitation in putting Buckland in to bat. A tight opening spell of bowling from Folley (1 for 28 off 12) shored up one end, although Lethbridge from the other end was not bowling as economically as is his trademark. Buckland openers Pike and Waterhouse were removed cheaply by Lethbridge and Folley respectively in the opening 10 overs, this brought to the crease Rogers and Pollard. With due respect to the conditions the Buckland pair patiently dug in and took the score from 20 to 91, a superb partnership of 71, proving to be the backbone of the Buckland innings. A bowling change from Ordulph eventually broke the partnership with Bridgewater back from injury immediately making his presence felt removing Pollard. At the other end new signing Prescott from Australia was removing Rogers in only his second over. Scenting blood the Ordulph pair fairly ripped through the Buckland order in a 15 over spell of controlled pace bowling, only Barrett (19) putting up any meaningful resistance. With four wickets each Bridgewater and Prescott finished off Buckland in the last over for a modest 128. Ordulph got off to a more than reasonable start with Finnigan and Statton putting on 30 in the first 10 overs. Finnigan was looking in good touch until an unfortunate calling mix up resulted in his run out. Statton followed soon after to a nice delivery from Brooks. Alarm bells were soon ringing for Ordulph when Bridgewater went cheaply, also to Brooks. For a while Evans (18) steadied the ship with a measured innings but wickets were falling at regular intervals at the other end. At this stage Ordulph still looked like being the likely winners, but that soon changed with the loss of Lawrence. The Buckland attack of Brooks and ?elder statesman? Pike were causing the Ordulph all sorts of problems. Only Folley (10) from the Ordulph tail putting up any resistance until his run out. Lethbridge and Hodges managed to frustrate Buckland and hold out until the end but the ship had run out of steam on 106 runs, 22 short of the total. Brooks was the pick of the Buckland bowling with worthy figures of 4 for 20 off 12, well supported by Pike 3 for 14 off 9. Yet again though some questionable batting and calling from the Ordulph batsmen contributed to their downfall.
