Winning the toss on a very hot afternoon, Customs chose to bat on a hard, dry wicket. They were soon in trouble at 42-4 thanks to an excellent opening spell by Mick Kennedy (3-22) and Dennis Edwards (1-12) and brilliant catches by keeper Brad Hitchcock and Matthew Cragoe in the gully. But Cutler (48) and Wedgwood (48) stopped the rot and aided by several missed chances added 78 in 13 overs. The Washington attack then regained the upper hand and wickets for skipper Justin Gurney (1-43) and Gary Malcolm (1-32), pegged Customs back. And young Robert Tidey, recently 13 had a dream first spell for the Wash, polishing off the tail to take 3-6. Brad Hitchcock behind the stumps had a great day with 2 catches, a stumping and a run out from a superb throw from Taran Persaud. Washington lost Chris Doyle early and skipper Gurney gave Robert Tidey the No. 3 berth. It was an inspirational decision. After years sitting on the sidelines watching his father Terry and elder brother Nik perform superbly for the club, the youngest Tidey batted through the innings for an hour and 40 minutes to score a wonderful 59 not out in 91 balls with five 4's. He added 80 with Matthew Cragoe, who scored an aggressive 42, 28 with David Gluckman and finally supported Pete Grzonka (27 not out) in achieving victory with 8 overs to spare. Skipper Gurney was lavish in his praise of Robert's innings : "What impressed me most about this knock was his temperament and patience. He invariably chose the right ball to attack, but then was quite happy to play out a maiden. And his running between the wickets and calling was exemplary. What a great debut." Man of the Match : Robert Tidey Kit Packer : Pete Grzonka for preventing Robert from beating his previous top score of 61.
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