HORSLEY & SEND 134 T Brugnoli 9-33

OLD MID-WHITGIFTIAN 135-3 B Shorten 66*

Old Mid-Whitgiftian win by 7 wickets

Tony Brugnoli returned remarkable figures of 9-33 as an improving Old Mid-Whitgiftian side continued their climb towards mid table with a seven-wicket win over Horsley and Send on Saturday, writes Rob Keenan.

Having won the toss and elected to field, Mids took their time to make the most of a lively seamer-friendly wicket, their minds still apparently basking in the glory of last week’s win at Beddington rather than concentrating on the task in hand, and Horsley captain Raza Bukhari punished them with a series of boundaries in the early overs.

However, once Mids had rediscovered their focus there was only going to be one winner and Brugnoli went on to return the second best bowling figures in the club’s records.

Bukhari top scored with 38 before becoming his first victim, one of three players caught behind by Jesse James.

John McSherry split the webbing in his left hand taking a catch to dismiss Hall and needed to leave the field for treatment.

Having returned to the field, McSherry did an excellent job with the ball in tandem with Brugnoli, bowling tightly to put pressure on the batsmen.

A Horsley side low on confidence duly buckled, losing their last six wickets for just eleven runs.

Ian Smith was caught behind by James while Rob Warne took an incredible diving catch to dismiss Homewood.

Naz Hussain (31), who had batted very diligently for over an hour and a half, then lost his concentration, driving straight to Piggin at mid on.

The collapse continued as Elliott was given out lbw and Waqar Bukhari was caught by Mark Roberts.

Brugnoli then finished off a wonderful individual performance by bowling out the last two batsmen as Horsley were dismissed for 134. Gavin Piper took the only other wicket to fall.

After tea, OMW openers Ben Shorten and Richard Piggin flourished once again with the bat, controlling their shots nicely in difficult conditions to take Mids over half way to their target.

Piggin made 35 before being caught by John Hall and the injured McSherry soon followed him back to the pavilion but Rob Warne (14) stood firm with Shorten to take Mids to within eight runs of their target before he was caught behind.

Shorten accelerated after the new ball was taken, completing his second successive half-century in the league and his second of the season against Horsley. He finished unbeaten on 66 as Mids strolled to victory inside 30 overs.

Mids can now look forward to a sequence of three home matches starting with Saturday’s South Croydon derby against Old Whitgiftians.