City of Ely 1st XI began their campaign in Senior 2 with a comfortable victory at Barley on Saturday. With the weather forecast looking threatening, the captains agreed a reduced-overs contest in an attempt to get a positive result.
Ely were asked to field first and the Barley openers gave the innings a solid start. It was however the dismissal of the dangerous Edward Whybrow, to an excellent catch from Foster, that precipitated a collapse. Richard Vincett and Owen Buxton were each able to help themselves to 3 wickets as Barley stumbled to 132 for 8 from their revised allocation of 35 overs. The innings was briefly interrupted by a torrential hail storm but this soon cleared up to be replaced by temperatures more suited to the winter months. In the conditions, it was a good performance from Ely.
The target never really looked to be anywhere near enough. Captain Michael Sellers led from the front, continuing his own excellent form from the previous summer with 75 not out to guide home a comfortable chase, joined at the end by Ed Aniskowicz (22 not out). Only Joseph De Souza (2 for 51) provided any real cutting edge for Barley, and the target was reached in just 17 overs for the loss of just two wickets. It was an imposing performance from Ely against one of the stalwarts of this division, and other teams will certainly have taken note of the wide margin of victory.
Captain Sellers was pleased to get the first win on the board of the season, “Their openers were stubborn early on but once we made the breakthrough we were able to show our quality in all three departments to start the season off with a very strong overall performance. Conditions weren’t that easy but I feel we adapted to them better and were able to make the most of them”.
The 2nd XI were also able to show off their quality in a higher division with a home victory over Cambridge CC, demonstrating the strength in depth that is present in the club. Key contributions with the bat came from Vajira Ketipearachchi (57) and Paul Henman (41) with the wickets being shared around amongst the bowlers.
Press release from The City of Ely Cricket Club
