Dordogne vs Charente Match Aug 2007

Third time lucky for Dordogne

The Dordogne XI won the AngloINFO shield for the first time last Sunday (19 August), beating the Charente XI by 3 wickets at Chenaud.

Batting first the Charente got off to a bad start in damp conditions, losing Simon Palmer for 5 and Rob Howard for 7. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals though captain Tom Martell made a bright 38, supported by Peter Bagnall (24) and Simon Haw (20). The opening bowlers, Simon Armstrong (2-15 in 8 overs) and Dordogne captain Adrian Raynor (8 overs for 16 runs), always made scoring difficult and the Charente finished with 143-9 in 40 overs.

John Harding (recently selected for the France U/15 squad) was the leading wicket-taker with 3-20 in 5 overs, and Alan Coombe took 2-22 in 5.4 overs before retiring with a muscle strain. Veteran wicketkeeper Eric Tilling was outstanding behind the stumps with two catches and a stumping.

The Dordogne’s reply was dominated by David Horlock who scored 79 out of 121 and seemed to have the match won. But numbers 6, 7 and 8 could manage only 4 between them and it was left to Adrian Raynor (25 not out) to secure a narrow victory for the Dordogne by 3 wickets. For the Charente Rob Howard took 2 for 23 in his 8 overs and Simon Palmer 1-18 in his.

Charente XI: 143-9 in 40 overs (T Martell 38, P Bagnall 24, S Haw 20; J Harding 3-20, S Armstrong 2-15, A Coombe 2-22)
Dordogne XI: 144-7 in 36 overs (D Horlock 79, A Raynor 25*; R Howard 2-23)