Stevens and Grimmer pile on runs for Harpsden

Harpsden won the toss and elected to bat in this 40 over game on Saturday. This appeared a brave decision after morning rain had softened the Harpsden wickets but Whitchurch struggled for control in the early overs and saw Andrew Grimmer take full advantage as he plundered 50 runs in the first 7 overs of the match. After a short rain delay Grimmer departed but Rob Harris and Ben Hancock took over and the scoreboard continued to tick over at a healthy rate.

With the departure of Harris Harpsden skipper Will Stevens joined Hancock in the middle and the pair proceeded to share a 100 run partnership. Hancock finally fell to the late arriving Seaward who was the pick of the Whitchurch bowlers and went on to pick up 4 wickets. After this Stevens saw partners come and go but managed to guide Harpsden to the mammoth total of 317 from their forty overs.

In reply Whitchurch started strongly in the opening overs but were pegged back by the economical Toby Stevens and impressive Mike Deville. With Whitchurch falling behind the rate Harpsden rotated their bowlers frequently. The star of the Whitchurch innings was Lyn Williams who made an aggressive 62 before falling to a good catch by Alfred Cary.

With Williams back in the pavilion Harpsden closed in on victory and even managed to get all 11 of their players on to bowl. Late resistance came from Flood and Neeson but not enough to stop Harpsden running out comfortable victors.

Harpsden
A.Grimmer b Neeson 60
R.Harris ct b Williams 41
B.Hancock b Seaward 37
W.Stevens ct sub b Seaward 92
R.Birkett b Williams 16
H.Cary ct Seaward b Steward 22
A.Birkett st Flood b Steward 16
G.Hepburn b Seaward 9
A.Cary Run Out 0
T.Stevens Not Out 4
M.Devile c&b Seaward 1
Extras 19
Total 317

Whitchurch
Seaward b Deville 6
Mattimao b Hepburn 24
Motha b Deville 0
L.Williams b Hepburn 62
Flood Not Out 23
Loudan ct b Hepburn 0
Steward b Stevens 1
S.Willams ct Stevens b A.Birkett 2
Nesson Not Out 18
Extras 16
Total 152

Harpsden 'tee off' against 'sub par' Woodcote

Harpsden 'open'ed up the bowling, Ham 'pitched' it up while Whittaker 'roughed' up the batsmen at the other end. Wickets fell as regularly as bunkers were found at Whistling Straits as a result of Hodgkiss putting in one 'Els' of a spell, swinging the ball so much the batsmen didn't know 'Watney' hell was going on. Woodcote were bowled out for 140.

Woodcotes hopes of winning the match 'faded' as Whittaker came to the crease and 'sliced' away 'fore' after 'fore'. To bring up his fifty Whittaker smashed yet another six, this time the ball went a 'fairway' into the 'Woods' and the victory was quickly wrapped up so that the players were back 'Dustin' time to see the conclusion of the final round of the USPGA.

Hancock and Hepburn Guide Harpsden to Victory

Stonor
S Collings ct Moyle b Birkett E 0
I Harris ct Hepburn b Hodgkiss 0
S Gordon ct Hodgkiss b Birkett R 46
J Powell ct Birkett E b Birkett R 48
M Bowden ct Reissman b Birkett R 2
T Wright b Stevens 11
S Mayana ct Reissman b Birkett A 15
J Olive b Stevens 0
C Maidlow b Imlay 4
S Harris ct Hancock b Birkett A 0
N Allsop Not Out 2

TOTAL 142 all out

Best Bowling: Birkett R 3-16, Birkett A 2-2

Harpsden
M Hodgkiss ct I Harris b Maidlow 5
W Stevens ct S Gordon b S Harris 11
R Harris b J Powell 12
I Reissman ct J Powell b Bowden 6
S Imlay ct I Harris b S Harris 22
A Birkett ct Mayana b Bowden 24
G Hepburn ct N Allsop b S Harris 28
B Hancock Not Out 14
E Birkett Not Out 6

TOTAL 144-7

Best Bowling: S Harris 3-28, Bowden 2-27

Harpsden travelled to Stonor in very damp conditions, in what turned out to be a very closely fought match.

Harpsden made the best possible start with the ball, removing Collings in the first over, caught behind off the bowling of Ed Birkett. Harpsden enjoyed further success in the following over, as Hodgkiss removed Harris first ball thanks to a smart catch from Hepburn at first slip. Powell and Gordon then set about rebuilding the innings, as Powell nurdled the singles, and Gordon went for a slightly more aggressive approach. It worked for both batsman, until Rod Birkett removed Gordon, who was caught at cow corner by Hodgkiss. The following ball, Powell didn’t follow through with his shot, and spooned the ball to mid on where Ed Birkett was waiting. From then on, Stonor failed to gain any momentum, losing there final 6 wickets for 40 runs. The pick of the Harpsden bowlers was Rod Birkett, who turned in figures of 6-0-16-3. He ably supported at the end of the innings by son Adam who picked up 2 wickets for 2 runs.

Harpsden started there innings cautiously, mainly due to very tight bowling from the Stonor openers. Hodgkiss was the first man to fall off the bowling of Maidlow, and Stevens soon followed him to the pavilion, removed by Harris’s bowling. Harpsden then found themselves in trouble at 44-4 with 20 overs remaining. Imlay and Birkett built a solid partnership before Birkett holed out, and Imlay was brilliantly caught by Ian Harris at slip off his sons bowling. This brought Hancock to the crease to join Hepburn, who was already hitting the ball sweetly, both batsman played sensibly, before Hepburn was caught behind again off Harris’s bowling. With 2 overs remaining Harpsden still needed 13 runs to win, Hancock showed good compsure, first hitting a loose full toss for four, and then hitting a cut shot through the covers for four 2 balls later, this meant that Harpsden now only needed 5 from the last over, Ed Birkett hit a 2, before unluckily for Stonor, the ball bounced awkwardly in front of the wicket keeper, and the ball flew to the boundary, with byes being signalled to give Harpsden victory by 3 wickets.