Hancock's Half Hour

Harpsden v Hambleden 22nd September 2007

Hambleden
J Weight ct Balaji b Butler 15
J Ogburn ct Hancock B b Greenwood 22
N Arnold Run Out 2
I Wright b Hancock T 22
M Smith b Hancock T 1
S Bradford b Stevens 0
A Weso b Hancock T 0
J Trueman b Hancock T 2
Ottoway ct Moyle b Hancock T 2
G Bridges st Moyle b Farmar 2
Mattingley Not Out 0
Extras 12

TOTAL 80
Best Bowling: T Hancock 5-6

Harpsden
R Harris ct Ottoway b Mattingley 2
B Hancock b Ottoway 0
Balaji b Arnold 34
Stevens ct ? b Ogburn 24
Greenwood b Ogburn 0
Hayden Not Out 7
Hancock Not Out 4
Extras 10
TOTAL 84
Best Bowling: Ogburn 2-31

Harpsden won the toss and put Hambleden into bat on a hard, dry pitch. Hambleden made a solid start with both openers reaching double figures. They rode their luck along the way with three or four edges through the slips. The first wicket finally fell after Ogburn chipped the ball straight to Ben Hancock off the bowling of Greenwood.
The other opener fell soon afterwards, when he hit ball in the air to be pouched by Balaji off the bowling of Butler. This brought Wright to the crease, who hit the ball all round the park in his 22. He was bowled by a beauty from Tom Hancock. Tom went on to take four more wickets to complete one of the best five wicket hauls ever seen at Harpsden, and one of the quickest. He finished with astonishing figures of 5-6. Other wickets were picked up by Stevens (1) and Farmar (1).
Harpsden then started their innings in the hope that the low target of 80 was easily gettable. But they didn’t start as they had hoped, losing both openers cheaply, for 2 and 0 respectively. This brought Balaji and Stevens together. They shared a strong fifty partnership that as good as ended any hopes of a Hambleden win. The game was polished off by Hancock and Hayden to complete a comfortable five wicket win for Harpsden.