Williams seals win for Harpsden in tight finish

HARPSDEN met CRANBOURNE on another fine May afternoon, and with Harpsden winning the toss a big score was possible. Harpsden started well with Bryan and Norton's opening partnership of 45 setting the tone. Both Andy Bryan and 14 year old Matt Thomas reached their fifties, with Thomas going big on several occasions. Some strong hitting from Rod Birkett and Tom Hancock got Harpsden up to 210 all out, but 6 wickets for Vikash resulted in Harpsden setting a challenging but not unattainable score.

CRANBOURNE came out strongly after tea, with Nilesh and Kirton putting on an opening stand of 46 in double quick time. A triple wicket maiden from Harry Williams with another wicket in his following over completely changed the game, and Cranbourne were on the back foot from then on. Chris Welford's economical and controlled spell of 8 overs for 14 runs meant Cranbourne would be unable to reach the target within the remaining overs. Nevertheless, very good bowling from Tom Ham, and a great reflex catch from Miles Hodgkiss left Cranbourne 9 down with 10 overs of play remaining in the day. Great resistance from Spencer and Kirton brought the game down to the penultimate ball when Williams, who had tormented the batsmen all day, took the final wicket.

Harpsden

Bryan c. Nilesh b. Alliston 50
Norton LBW b. Spencer 17
Matt Thomas LBW b. Vikash 66
Hodgkiss LBW b. Vikash 7
Birkett R. c. Rose b. Spencer 26
Birkett E. b. Vikash 6
Hancock T. LBW b. Spencer 13
Balaji b. Vikash 5
Williams c. & b. Vikash 2
Ham c. Alliston`b. Vikash 4
Welford NOT OUT 1
Total 210 all out

Best Bowling: Vikash 6-49, Spencer 3-33.

Cranbourne

Nilesh LBW b. Williams 29
Kirton c. Bryan b. Welford 18
Johnson LBW b. Williams 0
Alliston b. Williams 0
Patel b. Williams 3
Chislinni c. Hodgkiss b. Ham 16
Rose b. Ham 5
Castle b. Ham 0
Dainty c. Birkett R. b. Balaji 0
Kirton LBW b. Williams 1
Spencer NOT OUT 11
Total 109 all out
Best Bowling: Williams 5-36, Ham 3-6.