Hancock and Hepburn Make Butlers Toil

Harpsden
H Thomas Run Out 7
B Hancock ct Kelly b England 74
T Hancock lbw b Weymes 21
G Hepburn Retired 102
M Hayward Not Out 42
C Martin b Lee 16
J Howarth Not Out 7

TOTAL 290-4

Butler 11
C England ct Martin b Howarth 41
H Lee Run Out (Martin) 46
D Nicholson Run Out 0
A Hoskin ct Howarth b Fiander 28
A Kelly ct Gould b Hayward 1
M Hughes b Smith 21
J Reilly Not Out 31
T Sorrel Not Out 25

TOTAL 229-6

Harpsden entertained Butler 11 on a warm Wednesday afternoon, Harpsden won the toss and elected to bat, and made a solid start with openers Hancock and Thomas reaching 19-0 from 4 overs, Thomas then ram himself out for 7, to bring Tom Hancock in to join brother Ben at the crease, both batsman played sensibly, smashing anything loose to the boundary, while keeping out the good balls. Tom Hancock was looking solid until he was trapped LBW for 21.
Hepburn then came to the crease, and wasted no time in dispatching the bowling to all parts, reaching his half century in just 3 overs, he was well supported by Hancock who continued to regularly find the boundary, before being caught for 74, which included 14 fours. Hepburn wasted no time in reaching his maiden Harpsden century, in what was also almost certainly the quickest ever seen at Harpsden, including 11 sixes and 6 fours. After Hepburn had sportingly retired, Hayward provided most of the runs to take Harpsden to 290-4 from their allocated 35 overs.

Butler 11 also made a good start to their innings, with England the main aggressor, whilst Lee played more cautiously. England was the first man to fall, after being well caught by martin off Howarth’s bowling for 41, Nicholson was next to be making the walk back to the pavilion after a mix up resulted in him being run out. Hoskin and Lee then built a solid partnership, with Hoskin regularly finding the boundary before being caught by Howarth to give Fiander his first Harpsden wicket. Lee soon followed thanks to a brilliant piece of fielding from Martin who ran him out with just one stump to aim at. From then on, the batsman at the crease decided to go down fighting, with Reilly in particular hitting some ferocious strokes, however it wasn’t enough, as Butler 11 fell 61 runs short of Harpsdens target.

Harpsden Gain Sweet Victory

Sonning Common Village
H Cook b Hancock T 35
M Cann b Welford 73
V Sneeman b Birkett R 20
Ca Gallimore b Birkett R 0
C Pitson Not Out 13
C Gallimore Not Out 28

TOTAL 187-4
Best Bowling: R Birkett 2-40, T Hancock 1-10

Harpsden
N Sweet ct Mee b L Gallimore 67
B Hancock ct L Gallimore b M Cann 44
S Imlay c Mee b C Gallimore 19
G Hepburn c M Cann b C Gallimore 2
A Grimmer Not Out 40
E Birkett b C Pitson 7
T Ham Not Out 7

TOTAL 189-5
Best Bowling: M Cann 1-28, C Gallimore 2-39

Sonning Common won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like an absolute belter to bat on. Sonning Common made a solid start to their innings, reaching 87 without loss after 20 overs, however they then started to find the runs harder to come by with the introduction of Hancock and Birkett into the attack. It was Hancock who made the breakthrough, clean bowling Cook for a patient 35. Cann continued to press on, but lost two more partners, with Birkett claiming 2 wickets in the same over, Cann soon followed, unluckily bowled by a double bouncer from Welford, for a brilliant 73. Pitson and Gallimore pressed on, but only managed to get Sonning Common to what looked like a slightly below par score of 187.
Harpsden started there innings very positively, with both openers regularly finding the boundary, as Harpsden reached 57-0 from 10 overs. The introduction of Cann into the attack slightly slowed the rate, but both batsman continued to play positively, it wasn’t until the 21st over that Sonning Common got the breakthrough, Hancock falling six runs short of his half century with the score on 95, this increased the Sonning Common morale as they picked up 4 more wickets, but it wasn’t enough, as Grimmer guided Harpsden home with the help of Ham.