OLD MID-WHITGIFTIAN 272-7 (M Butcher 127)

OLD WHITGIFTIANS 273-5 (J Lewis 71, C Morrison 105*)

Old Whitgiftians won by 5 wickets

A magnificent innings from Craig Morrison helped Old Whitgiftians maintain their impressive start to the season with a five-wicket win over Old Mid-Whitgiftian in a star-studded and hugely entertaining South Croydon derby.

The South African youngster hit an unbeaten 105 as OWs recovered from a precarious position to comfortably overcome their local rivals.

The team sheets were packed with both former and current professionals.

David Ward, Rupesh Amin and Saqlain Mushtaq all featured in the OWs line up while Surrey captain Mark Butcher made a rare appearance for Mids in his quest for match fitness ahead of a planned return to county action.

The quality of the cricket certainly lived up to the expectations of a large Croham Road crowd.

After Mids lost Ben Shorten to the fifth ball of the match it was Butcher who produced the day’s first outstanding individual display.

On a good wicket he made batting look easy, sharing a stand of 94 with Richard Piggin (36) who also played extremely well.

It took an lbw verdict to break the stand with Piggin the victim in Morrison’s first over and captain Stewart Sales was promptly dismissed in similar fashion to the bowling of spinner Chatwal.

However, Robert Warne ran well between the wickets with Butcher to produce the second big stand of the OMW innings which put Mids in a strong position.

The pair added 120 in 20 overs to put Mids on course for a big total before Warne was caught by Morrison off the bowling of Saqlain.

Butcher continued to dominate the bowling before finally being bowled by his old Surrey team mate Saqlain for an excellent 127.

An encouraging late cameo from Kunal Patel (16 not out) including a six off Saqlain kept the momentum going as Mids eventually closed on 272 for 7.

When the in-form Mark Roberts removed two of OWs most reliable performers early in their reply Mids sniffed the chance of a surprise victory.

First, David Ward was caught in the slips and then fellow opener Mike Winson was clean bowled playing a loose shot.

Matt Winter then trapped Alex Goward lbw at which stage OWs still required over 200 runs for victory.

However, the lack of a fifth bowler capable of containing the batsmen on an unforgiving ground ultimately cost Mids the match.

Once Morrison had settled at the crease he began to take a depleted OMW attack apart in a stand of 157 with Jason Lewis which turned the game on its head.

Lewis was dropped by Robert Warne on the boundary, a missed opportunity which proved very expensive as the all-rounder survived to score 71 valuable runs.

In a desperate search for a wicket, Stewart Sales reintroduced his strike bowlers but they were unable to deliver the necessary breakthrough.

In the end, it was the occasional leg spin of Sales himself that earned the wicket of Lewis but by this point OWs were within 50 runs of their target.

An unexpected twist threatened to unfold when Sales then bowled Ali Raja but with Morrison in majestic form at the other end the result was never in serious doubt.

Morrison reached a well deserved hundred as he and Saqlain knocked off the remaining runs to seal victory with five overs to spare.

OWs travel to Leatherhead and Cobham on Saturday while Mids host Cheam as the Surrey Championship matches revert to their traditional format.