Boomerang ball bugs brilliant Norton

On a warm yet overcast day Harpsden entertained Twyford. Twyford won the toss and elected to bat first on an un-characteristically hard Harpsden pitch.

Wright struck early with a very fortunate wicket with a terrible ball,
getting Benjamin caught brilliantly by the diving Norton, the first of his five chances of the day. After his first brilliant catch the safe Norton hands then dropped the next two difficult chances but followed up with two first-rate clingers. Toby Stevens also got into the action with admirable efforts in the field, most notably his outstanding catch at backward point. After the early wicket of Benjamin, Twyford started to re-build the innings with Woodman (33) and Tom Fort(54) building momentum by putting on a crucial 87 run partnership in which Fort batted excellently for his deserved half-century. Rod Birkett’s demon
in-swing broke the partnership with his second ball. From there wickets
started to fall at regular intervals with Sam Imlay (3-16) and Rod Birkett(3-16) being the pick of the bowlers. Twyford finished on a below par 146.

After a long hot time in the field it was Harpsden’s turn to bat.
However, they suffered a serious blow in their run chase as the weary
looking Sweet recorded the first ruby duck in the last 25 years of
Harpsden’s history. His return to the pavilion was greeted by sarcastic applause and the washing up. This brought Will Stevens to the crease to try and stabilise the innings which is precisely what he did with the help of Mick Greenwood. Greenwood was then caught outstandingly by Edward Farrah (12 years old) trying to hit a good length ball into the cemetry. This brought 60% Andrew Norton to the crease showing no fear with Harpsden at 24-2. Norton batted exquisitely with the in-form Stevens in support. Norton took no time to get started and very quickly they both raced to their half centuries. They saw Harpsden home with ample time to spare thus completing a comprehensive 8 wicket victory. The pick of the bowlers was Hackett with 2 for 34.



Innings of Twyford



P. Woodman B. R. Birkett 33 D. Benjamin ct. Norton B. Wright 3
T. Fort ct. T. Stevens B. Hodgkiss 54
K. Cochrane ct. Norton B. Hodgkiss 3
H. Fort ct. T. Stevens B. R. Birkett 0
C. Fort B. Imlay 2
T. Downes ct. W. Stevens B. Imlay 7
S. Farrah ct. Norton B. Imlay 6
T. Cooper ct. and B. W. Stevens 1
P. Hackett ct. Sweet B. R. Birkett 4
E. Farrah Not Out 0

Extras 33

Total (All out) 146

Harpsden Bowlers

T. Ham 6-1-23-0, J. Wright 6-1-20-1, T. Stevens 3-0-9-0, A. Birkett
2-0-13-0, W. Stevens 6-1-9-1, M. Hodgkiss 7-0-28-2, R. Birkett 9-2-16-3, S. Imlay 5-0-16-3


Innings of Harpsden


N. Sweet Ct. T. Downes b. P. Hackett 0
M. Greenwood Ct. E. Farrah b. P. Hackett 9
W. Stevens NOT OUT 73
A. Norton NOT OUT 64

Extras 1

Total (for 2 wkts) 147


Twyford Bowlers

P. Hackett 6-0-34-2, T. Cooper 5-0-28-0, T. Downes 4-0-42-0, T. Fort
5-0-23-0, E. Farrah 2-0-11-0, S. Farrah 0.4-0-10-0