Harpsden Triumph in Local Derby

After a big win in the local derby against Greys Green on Saturday HARPSDEN were feeling confident before their 40 overs encounter with HENLEY. Henley had elected to bat at the Breakspear Ground on a typically fast and bouncy wicket, if not a touch damp. Harpsden opening bowler Ollie Heath sent down the first over at a ferocious pace finding the edge on a couple of occasions and testing the batsmen with the shorter ball, but the first wicket fell in the 2^nd over to 15 year old quick Tom Nugent. This started a mini collapse for Henley with Harpsden bowling 4 successive wicket maidens leaving Henley 8 for 4. The two Johnson youngsters started a Henley recovery taking the score up to 35 before the fall of the next wicket, another for Tom Nugent as N.Johnson was excellently caught in the gully by Tom Ham. Harpsden veteran Miles Hodgkiss was then brought into the attack and bowled an 8 over spell for just 15 runs to dampen the chances of Henley reaching 150. James Paice was keen to impress against his former club and took 3 wickets, which along with 2 run outs left Henley all out for 118 in the 39^th over. Paice was ably assisted by his fielders with Horatio Cary’s diving catch in the covers and Miles Hodgkiss’ diving fumble and recovery in the slips both contenders for catch of the season.

Harpsden came out after tea knowing batting out the 40 overs would surely see them to victory but got off to the worst possible start as Neil Sweet was dismissed for a duck. Adam Hurst was the next man to go after a hard hitting 29, including 7 boundaries. The Harpsden batsmen were clearly enjoying the quicker covered wicket and made swift work of the remaining runs especially Horatio Cary who finished 57 not out, having hit 50 in boundaries. Credit must also go to Jack Broome, who ably assisted Cary and hit the shot of the day; a truly massive six down the ground hitting the top of the trees surrounding the boundary. Harpsden reached Henley’s total for the loss of two wickets and in just 17.5 of their 40 overs.

Henley C.C.

H.Briszland ct. A.Hurst b. O.Heath 8

M.Ayres b. T.Nugent 0

S.Burringham ct. J.Broome b. O.Heath 0

D.White ct. H.Cary b. T.Nugent 0

N.Johnson ct. T.Ham b. T.Nugent 13

A.Johnson Run Out 14

L.Dennison ct. H.Cary b. J.Paice 48

R.Kenworthy ct. A.Hurst b. J.Paice 17

J.Gunasekara Not Out 2

M.Thomas Run Out 0

C.Johnson ct. M.Hodgkiss b. J.Paice 0

Sub Total 102

Extras 16

Total (all out) 118

Best Bowling: J.Paice 3-16, T.Nugent 3-18, O.Heath 2-22

Harspden C.C.

N.Sweet ct. C.Johnson b. L.Dennison 0

A.Hurst ct. R.Kenworthy b. D.White 29

H.Cary Not Out 57

J.Broome Not Out 30

Sub Total 116

Extras 5

Total (2wkts) 121

Best Bowling: L.Dennison 1-35

Harpsden v Greys Green – 25th July 2009

Imlay and Stevens Propel Harpsden to Massive Total

Harpsden
S.Imlay st ? b W Fairhead 59
W.Stevens lbw b Crook 81
M.Hodgkiss Retired Hurt 36
P.Burtt st ? b Knight 23
I.Reissman b Rooke 30
A.Cary Not Out 29
R.Harris Not Out 4

TOTAL 295-4
Extras 33 (b14, lb3, w8, nb3, p5)

Greys Green
Butler ct Burtt b Heath 2
Cross ct Harris b B Hancock 16
Cusden ct Reissman b Greenwood 22
Knight Not Out 54
Rooke b Cary 27
Hoggart Run Out 0
Hunt Not Out 12

TOTAL 147-5
Extras 14 (b1, lb2, w8, nb3)

Harpsden entertained Greys Green on a pitch that was still recovering from the weekday rain. However, this didn’t seem to peg back Harpsden’s openers, as Stevens and Imlay got Harpsden off to the best possible start to leave Harpsden on 65 without loss after 10 overs. Imlay in particular was timing the ball beautifully all around the ground, and when he eventually fell for a brilliant 59, the openers had fallen one run short of the 100 partnership. This brought Hodgkiss to the crease to join Stevens, who had also now started to hit the ball all around the ground. Both batsmen were playing brilliantly when, out of the blue Hodgkiss pulled up with a back injury and decided to take a rest. Soon after this, Stevens fell for 81, on a day where he deserved to go on and get the 3 figures. Harpsden then started to really attack the Greys Green bowling, with the last ten overs going for ninety nine runs. Valuable contributions came from Cary (29 not out) and Reissman (30).

Greys Green knew that it was going to take something special to chase this massive score. And there task was made a lot harder when Butler prodded the ball to Burtt at gully off Heaths bowling for just 2. The introduction of Hancock into the attack, to work in tandem with Deville at the other end dried up the runs even further for Greys Green, with Cross in particular finding it difficult to play the spinning ball. And this proved to be his downfall as he edged one behind, with Harris taking a very good catch. All of the Harpsden bowlers continued to bowl very well, making sure that Greys Green couldn’t get close to the target. Only Knight managed to spend time at the crease, to finish on a well crafted 54 not out, but his lack of support meant that Greys Green could only manage 147-5, giving Harpsden victory by 148 runs.