Harpsden Beat Henley On Damp Afternoon

Henley InningsTotal 154-9 (35 overs)
Russel lbw Farmer 26
Johnson b Stevens 16
Poulson ct Imlay b Stevens 0
Satin b Stevens 7
Kendrick b Stevens 8
Ali b Stevens 0
Neville NO 34
Maitigu ct Hodgkiss b Heath 4
Gould ct Farmer b Hodgkiss 26
Harris b Heath 3
Dennison NO 1Extras 29

Best bowling Stevens 7-1-17-5

Harpsden Innings
Total 156-3 (31.4 overs)
Adley run out 38
S Imlay run out 35
T Hancock lbw Kendrick 0
Hodgkiss NO 47
Stevens NO 25
Extras 11

Best bowling Kendrick 6-0-26-1

The captains agreed to a 40 over per side match and Henley elected to bat first. The opening pair for Henley reached 50 without loss in 10 overs thanks to some solid batting and several wide deliveries. At this point, light drizzle began to fall but the play continued with Will Stevens taking the wickets of Johnson and Poulson.At the end of the 13th over with the rain falling heavily, the covers were brought out.

When play resumed, the conditions were far less favourable for batting thanks to the soggy outfield and slower pitch. Just three overs proved possible before the next rain delay and in that time, Stevens claimed 3 more wickets. In successive deliveries, the leg and middle stumps were uprooted simultaneously. The hat-trick ball just drifting down the leg side but another wicket soon followed with the off stump disappearing on this occasion.

An early tea was taken and when play resumed with Henley on 73-5 a reduction to 35 overs per side was agreed. Harpsden soon reduced the home side to 88-7. Gould and Neville were now at the crease and they formed a strong partnership. Gould hit 5 boundaries on his way to 26 whilst Neville made 34 not out with 7 boundaries. Henley completed their 35 overs with one wicket to spare posting a target of 154.

Harpsden began their reply solidly making 33 without loss from the first 11 overs. At this point Nick Adley and Sam Imlay upped their scoring rate with 43 runs blazed to all corners in the next 4 overs. Adley had accumulated 38 runs with 7 boundaries before some sharp fielding saw him run out whilst attempting a quick single. Imlay followed him just 3 balls later with a direct hit leading to him being run out for 35. Kendrick claimed another wicket in the following over to leave Harpsden needing 70 more runs from 17 overs.

Miles Hodgkiss was now at the crease and after a few overs getting his eye in, he started to strike the ball aggressively. Captain Will Stevens also looked in good form albeit with a much more patient approach to batting. With 8 overs to go, Harpsden still needed another 39 runs for victory, but they polished these off with 3.2 overs to spare. Hodgkiss finished his innings with 47 not out including a six and 5 fours whilst Stevens made 25 not out including 4 boundaries.

In the final analysis, it was a miserably wet afternoon, but the result, the tea and the beer made it worthwhile.