Braintree CC’s second XI unfortunately made it seven losses from seven with a defeat by 7 wickets away at Wivenhoe.

The dolphins were batting first and Nick Lockhart and Dave hale were opening up, the former pulling one for 4 before chopping on in the next over. Hale struck a couple of convincing boundaries himself before he fell victim to a peach of a delivery from Nicholls, pitching middle and hitting the top of off. Rory Cicarelli-Ainsley joined Michael Rake in the middle and after striking 4 brutal boundaries, he offered Nicholls a simple caught and bowled from a short delivery that stuck in the pitch, which had been baked in the sun. This left the score at 46-3 and a repair act was needed. Matt Hollingsworth, along with Rake, put together a 50 partnership in contrasting styles, Hollingsworth the aggressor and Rake the accumulator. The score reached 99 when Rake, on 33, nicked one to keeper Hillman. Hollingsworth continued to attack and score at over a run a ball while being ably supported by Walton and Eveling, who ticked the strike over well in their innings. The score had reached 175 when both had departed, and it was now mainly on Hollingsworth to a get the score up to par. Unfortunately, his dad Jeremy only made 6 before he fell. Hollingsworth then put the foot down as he made his way into the 90’s and the score had passed 200 when Jay Singh Shera was caught, but unfortunately Hollingsworth could not complete his century, falling on 92 to an unbelievable catch in the deep by Nicholls. However, it was a fantastic innings by the all rounder, single handedly giving the dolphins hope. The last wicket fell a few balls later as Callum Lazarus had a swipe and was caught at slip as the innings was wrapped up on a respectable but not brilliant total of 215 in 42 overs.

With the ball, the dolphins really never got going and too many loose deliveries were present throughout most of the innings. However, the fielding was good and a resilient attitude meant that even though wickets were hard to come by, The home side were made to work for their runs, taking almost 40 overs to chase the target down. The 3 wickets that did fall were via a great delivery and celebration to match as Eveling removed Kelly, and 2 from Charlie Garner, first having Stacey stumped by J Hollingsworth, before having century maker Hillman caught in the deep by Rake. Nicholas and Savill closed out the victory for the home side in what was a relatively comfortable chase in the end.

A commendable effort from the dolphins but the wait for a win goes on, they will hope their luck improves as they make the trip to Brightlingsea this Saturday.